Scratch-and-win scam smashed

PETALING JAYA: Police detained six individuals in a crackdown on a scratch-andwin scam involving some RM350,000 in losses.

The operation was conducted by a team from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Bentong district police headquarters on April 22.

Bentong police chief Supt Mohammad Mansor Mohd Noor said police tracked down the suspects’ cars and detained them in front of a restaurant.

“The suspects, three men and three women, aged between 23 and 45, had swindled victims by offering lucrative prizes through scratch-and-win contests,” he said in a statement yesterday. He said police seized one scratch-and-win voucher, two company rubber stamps, and three agreement letters signed by the victims.

“A photo of an agreement signed by a victim was also found in the mobile phone of a suspect,” he said.

In the three cases reported, one victim is a 62-year-old woman who lost RM17,000 on April 4, when three women came to her house and asked her to make a lucky pick. The suspects then said she had won a prize and that it would be sent to her by post.

The victim was brought to the bank by the suspects and she withdrew the money for them.

Another victim, a 73-year-old man, lost RM8,900 on April 21. He was approached by two men who offered him a scratch-and-win voucher. After scratching it, he was told that he had won a prize.

The suspects brought the victim to a meeting room in a house, believed to be a rest house for the suspects, and was told that he had won a lucrative prize. He then withdrew the cash from the bank and handed it to the suspects.

In another case, a 71-year-old man was swindled of RM110,000 with the same tactic.

The suspects who are in remand are being investigated for similar cases in Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan. – by Song Boon Mun