Govt retiree loses RM575,350 in telephone scam

KEPALA BATAS: A government retiree lost RM575,350 after being duped by a telephone scam syndicate which alleged she was involved in money laundering here recently, said North Seberang Perai police chief, ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor yesterday.

He said the victim, a 61-yearold woman received a telephone call from a man claiming to be from Kuantan Post Office and informed her that a package belonging to her was found to contain banned substances.

“The call was then passed to Kuantan police headquarters and she spoke to a man calling himself Inspector Ting who then told the woman, she was found involved in money laundering,” he told reporters here.

He said the suspect who called himself inspector told the victim the case was still under investigation and asked the woman not to inform anyone and advised the retiree to give her full cooperation.

According Noorzainy, the woman was shocked after receiving the information and then proceeded to transfer her money via a bank counter to a bank account provided by the syndicate.

Noorzainy said the woman made 28 transactions from 15 bank accounts involving RM575,350 and victim was told the money would be for the purpose of investigation and for the security of the government retiree.

“The victim used all her cash in savings, pension, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and trust fund for the transfer from August 16 to September 3,” he said.

He said the woman made a police report on Sunday after failing to contact the suspect who masqueraded as a police officer to check the status of the case and she then believed she had been trapped by a fraud syndicate.

“Investigations are still going on including detecting the owner of the account used by the syndicate and case was investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud,” he said. – Bernama