2 govt retirees lose over RM70,000 to tricksters
KUANTAN: Two government retirees lost over RM70,000 to a Macau scam syndicate members, who impersonated a police officer and a bank officer.
State’s Commercial Crimes Investigation chief Superintendent Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the first case involved a senior citizen aged 63, who suffered a RM53,000 loss after she was tricked by the syndicate on Sept 20.
“The victim received a call from a man, claiming to be an officer from Seremban Public Bank. He claimed that the victim took a personal loan of RM70,000 and failed to make repayments for three months.
“The victim denied making such a loan. The call was then transferred to another suspect, who claimed to be a police officer,” he said yesterday, adding that the “police officer” claimed the victim was involved in a drug case and her assets would be frozen.
“To avoid her assets from being frozen, she was asked to transfer her savings into another account given by the suspect.
“The victim then made three transactions amounting to RM53,000.”
“She lodged a police report at the Kuantan police headquarters yesterday after she realised she was conned,” Wazir said.
In a separate case, a senior citizen, aged 69, lost RM20,000 to another “bank officer” from Seremban Public Bank, who used the same modus operandi.
The victim received a call, telling him that he had failed to repay the personal loan he took from the bank.
“The call was then transferred to a ‘police officer’, who told him that he was involved in a drug case and was at risk of getting all his assets frozen.
“The scared victim then transferred RM20,000 into the account given by the suspect,” he said.
Wazir said both cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, which carried a maximum jail sentence of 10 years, whipping and fine, if convicted.