Teacher and medical assistant scammed

BALIK PULAU: A teacher has fallen victim to a parcel scam syndicate, costing her RM358,350, says Barat Daya OCPD Supt A.A. Anbalagan.

He said the 53-year-old woman received a call in August from a man who identified himself as “Khalid” from a courier company.

“She was told that she was required to make some payment for a parcel that was sent to her,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Supt Anbalagan said the teacher was also told that the parcel, contained A$150,000 (RM450,000), and was being held by the Customs Department and that if she did not settle the payment, she would be charged for money laundering by the United Nations.

Afraid, the victim made the payment via 10 transactions at ATMs between August and October.

Supt Anbalagan said the woman realised she was cheated and lodged a police report when she received a call asking her to make another payment for the parcel.

Police found that the money was deposited into accounts which were under the name of several individuals.

In Sibu, ANDY CHUA reports that a female medical assistant was cheated of RM2,200 in a parcel scam by a man who befriended her on social media.

State CCID chief Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the 25-year-old woman received a friend’s request on Facebook last month from someone named Roy Lim.

By the end of last month, he told her that he liked her to which she it was still too early for that as they had just known each other.

On Dec 8, he told her he wanted to send her a Christmas gift.

“Twelve days later on Dec 20, the man informed her that the parcel had arrived. A woman called her up the next day, asking her to pay RM2,200 to claim the parcel,” he said.

After she banked in the money, the woman demanded her to pay RM9,500 more for a certificate to release the present, claiming that it was sent from another country.

When the victim did not do so, the woman threatened to lodge a police report as the parcel that was shipped under her name contained illegal items such as drugs and a large amount of US dollars.

“She only realised that she had been cheated when she did not receive the item,” he said.