A retired private sector employee in Subang Jaya suffered a loss of RM3.839mil after falling victim to a ‘phone scam’.
Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said a 70-year-old woman in Subang Jaya received a fraudulent phone call from an individual in November 2022. The caller claimed to be an insurance officer and informed the woman about an insurance claim made using her name.
Datuk Hussein Omar Khan emphasized that the woman denied making any insurance claims. Nevertheless, the call was transferred to a person claiming to be from the ‘police,’ who informed her that she was involved in a money laundering case. The caller threatened her with arrest.
Believing the tactic, the victim was coerced into opening a new account for the purpose of the investigation. In a state of panic, she transferred RM3.839mil into this account.
The fraudsters also instructed her to provide the bank account details to facilitate the investigation and instructed her not to access the account for several months.
On a recent visit to the bank, the woman discovered that the account only had a balance of RM79.59. It was at this point she realized she had been the victim of a fraud.
Datuk Hussein Omar Khan utilized this situation as a reminder for the public to avoid engaging with unknown individuals who make unsolicited phone calls. He stressed that the police never conduct investigations via phone calls and never instruct anyone to transfer money for investigation purposes.
– Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
