A trader in Kuala Terengganu lost RM882,920 after falling victim to a phone scam syndicate, say police.
KUALA TERENGGANU: A trader suffered losses amounting to RM882,920 after falling victim to a phone scam syndicate in March.
Kuala Terengganu police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said on March 23, the male victim, who is in his early 50s, received a phone call from a male suspect posing as a representative of an insurance company.
He said the suspect claimed that the victim’s name had been used to make several fraudulent health insurance claims at a private hospital, which the victim denied.
“The victim’s call was then connected to another suspect posing as a police officer, supposedly for the purpose of filing an online report.
“In addition to the fake health insurance claims, the victim was also allegedly implicated in money laundering and corruption activities. To resolve the case, the victim was instructed to open two new bank accounts and transfer all his savings into those accounts for investigation purposes,” he said in a statement today.
The victim, fearing legal action, transferred all his savings from his Lembaga Tabung Haji, Amanah Saham Bumiputera and Amanah Saham Wawasan accounts into the two newly opened bank accounts.
He said the suspects also instructed the victim not to use the money or conduct any transactions from the bank accounts until the investigation period ended.
“However, the victim became suspicious because even after transferring all his savings, the suspects continued pressuring him to make further transfers into the two new bank accounts.
“The victim later checked the account balances and discovered several outgoing transfers from the two accounts to unknown accounts between March 29 and May 4,” he said.
He said the victim, upon realising he had been scammed, lodged a police report at 12.36 pm yesterday, and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
