Man loses RM3,000 to scammer posing as his niece

MELAKA: It was a scam but did not use the usual ruse to deceive a former state official into paying RM3,000 to help his “niece”.

The 65-year-old victim, who requested for anonymity, said he received a call last Saturday from a woman identifying herself as his niece from Ayer Molek and saying she needed help to repay a loan.

“But the call did not go through the usual modus operandi. The scammer never asked me to settle outstanding police summonses or money owed to the banks,” he said in an interview yesterday.

The caller asked him to deposit cash into a bank account.

“When I asked her why she did not sound the same, she told me that she was suffering from a bad cough.

“She called me ‘uncle’ and told me she was in very big trouble with illegal moneylenders and needed cash urgently.

“The caller used a different phone number and pleaded with me not to tell others about the matter until she explained her predicament to me when we meet,” said the victim.

He said he was in Tanjung Piai, Johor, to campaign for the upcoming parliamentary by-election when he received the call.

“I thought my niece was in trouble so I banked in RM3,000 without thinking twice,” he added.

While driving back to Melaka that night, the victim decided to call his niece on her home landline to see if she had received the money.

“However, my niece told me that the mobile phone number was not hers and she had never called me for help.

“I then tried calling the number but I was blocked,” he said.

The victim lodged a report at the Banda Hilir police station on Monday.

“I was told that there had been a few other cases where the callers pretended to be family members of the victims.

“What baffled me is how the fraudster got hold of my personal information including where my relatives live,” he added.