BUKIT MERTAJAM, Oct 7: A businesswoman who fell victim to a phone scam syndicate that claimed she was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering, lost her savings of RM534,500, recently.
Seberang Perai Tengah police chief ACP Tan Cheng San said the 53-year-old woman lodged a police report on Wednesday after realising she was cheated by the syndicate.
“The victim claimed she had received a call from the first suspect who claimed to be an officer from Pos Laju Malaysia and informed her that there was an unclaimed parcel with her name on it and contained several illegal items like identity cards and bank cards that belonged to others.
“Soon after, the victim received another call from someone who claimed to be a police officer from the Perlis police contingent, claiming he wanted to record a statement because there were individuals who had used the woman’s details for the illegal contents in the parcel,” he said in a statement tonight.
He added that the woman was contacted by a third person who also claimed to be a police officer and informed the victim that she was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering and was told to report to him every four hours.
Tan said the woman (victim) was asked by the suspect to download an app (BNM) and also directed her to open a new bank account to avoid being detained by police.
The victim was asked to key in the new bank account number into the “BNM” app and directed the victim to transfer RM466,500 into the new bank account for investigation purposes and told the woman to not touch the account or money in the bank for three months and at the same time, the third suspect had ordered her to transfer RM68,000 on three occasions to two different banks.
The victim realised that she was scammed after checking her bank account and realising her savings of RM534,500 had been transferred to different bank accounts without her knowledge.
Tan said police were now investigating the case.
— BERNAMA