Be wary of phone scams, public advised
KUCHING: Members of the public are urged to be vigilant of phone scams which have become increasingly rampant these days, said Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei.
The DAP publicity secretary recently came across a case where a woman in her late 30s fell victim to a telephone scam resulting in a loss of RM11,000 earlier this month.
Speaking on behalf of the victim who requested anonymity, he said she received a phone call from a man claiming to be a bank officer concerning her credit card which had purportedly been used by someone else.
“The caller had asked the victim to deposit RM11,000 into another bank account to settle the credit card debt so as to have the case dropped from court.
“Worried that she would be charged in court for the debt, the victim followed his instructions. However, she only realised she had been duped when she tried calling the caller after depositing the money and (finding) that her number had been blocked,” he told a press conference at the state DAP headquarters here yesterday.
He said the victim has since lodged a police report at Sungai Maong Police Station but said up till today, no action has been taken.
“I will write to the district police chief (ACP Ng Ah Lek) to inform him on what had transpired and to request the police to give an answer and the investigation status of the case.”
Wong also advised the public to be wary and not to fall victims to such scams.
“No officers from banks, the police or court will personally call up individuals to request for money to be transferred,” he stressed, adding that matters concerning transaction, fines or summon will be accompanied by proper and legitimate documents.
“If the public should ever be contacted over the phone, the caller claiming to be associated with the bank or police, they should check first with their respective banks or nearby police department.”