Phone scammers fall flat as targets wise up to their con

MIRI: Attempts by scammers to snare victims via telephone over the past week were unsuccessful after their targets hung up on them.

Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) head Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said three women here received the calls between Nov 22 and Dec 3.

“All three were accused of committing crimes by so- called officers. Each of them was quick to realise that it was an attempt to scam them, and hung up,” he said in a statement yesterday, adding that the women subsequently lodged police reports over the matter.

He said the first woman, aged 42, was contacted by an unknown person who said she had been blacklisted by Chinese Customs Department for being involved in money laundering. She was asked for her Mykad and passport numbers, but refused to divulge the information before disconnecting the call.

The second case, according to Mustafa Kamal, involved a 26-year- old civil servant who received a call from someone claiming to be from the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC).

“She was accused of being involved in drug trafficking and money laundering, but knew straight away it was a scam and also hung up on the caller,” he added.

The final case involved a 48- year-old business owner who was contacted by someone claiming to be from the Kuala Lumpur High Court. The woman was told that a vehicle registered under her name had been involved in a recent hit- and-run case in Ampang.

“She did not entertain the caller further as she knew it was a scam attempt. She hung up and did not suffer any loss,” said Mustafa Kamal.

The CCID head said in situations like these, it would be best to remain calm and level-headed, and not be taken in by whatever accusations made by the caller.

“Just end the call and lodged a police report so that we may begin investigating the number used by the caller.”