A 74-year-old retiree in Taiping lost over RM300,000 after scammers impersonated TNB and police, coercing her into revealing financial details.
IPOH: An elderly woman lost RM318,521 after being deceived by a phone scam syndicate impersonating authorities.
Taiping district police chief ACP Mohamad Nasir Ismail said the 74-year-old government retiree lodged a report on Friday.
The victim received a call on December 2 from a man claiming to be from Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
He alleged someone had used her name to register an electricity meter in Kuantan, Pahang, and asked her to make a police report there.
The suspect offered to make the report since she was in Taiping, Perak, and connected her to a caller impersonating a police officer.
Mohamad Nasir said the suspect then informed the victim she was involved in a money laundering case.
She was instructed to cooperate by providing personal information and disclosing all her money and jewellery.
“The victim was asked to provide her personal information and disclose all the money and jewellery she owned for investigation purposes,” he said.
Another man later contacted her, instructing her to wrap her ATM card and jewellery and place the package near her home.
She was also asked to list her movements from December 10 to 23 and provide her ATM card password.
“Because the victim was in a state of fear, the victim followed all instructions,” Mohamad Nasir said.
This included transferring Amanah Saham Bumiputera funds into the suspect’s account and providing her Tabung Haji account details.
The victim checked her accounts on December 23 and found all the money was gone.
A bank review confirmed she did not make the transactions, leading her to suspect the scammers were responsible.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
