Man frightened into paying RM100,000

Scammers tell 65-year-old pensioner he was a drug trafficking suspect

SIBU: A pensioner lost RM100,000 in a Macau scam in which the perpetrator used a different tactic to dupe the victim.

Previously, many victims were cheated of their money purportedly to pay for “customs clearance” to collect gifts from overseas.

OCPD Asst Comm Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said in the latest scam, the 65-year-old was duped by syndicate members through “fear tactic”.

He said on Sept 23, the pensioner received a phone call from a woman who identified herself as being from the Health Ministry.

“The woman told him that he was suspected to be involved in drug trafficking. Subsequently, the line was transferred to one Inspector Ong of Bukit Aman,” he said.

The retiree was told by “Insp Ong” that it was a serious offence to buy and sell drugs.

He was also told to transfer all his savings into a new bank account for auditing due to his “offence”.

“The pensioner did as told and transferred RM100,000 in two transactions to a new account.

“He also provided the account details and PIN number, including the TAC number, for the purpose of auditing,” he said.

The next day, the pensioner found out that his money had been trans- ferred online to a third party account.

ACP Stanley said the pensioner only realised that he had been duped after “Insp Ong” asked him to deposit more money into his account.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

The Macau scam often starts with a phone call from someone pretending to be an officer from a bank, government agency or debt collector.

The scammer will then claim that the potential victim owes money, has an unpaid fine or is involved in undesirable activities, often with a very short window of less than an hour to settle the payment, or else they will face “dire consequences”.

These victims will then be asked to make payments to get them off the hook.