GEORGE TOWN: An office clerk lost more than RM600,000 after being duped by a phone scam syndicate posing as police officers.
Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the 61-year-old woman received a call from an individual claiming to be a bank officer who informed her that someone had used a credit card in her name.
The victim denied the matter, and the call was transferred to an individual introducing himself as a police officer from the Johor Police Contingent Headquarters.
The fake police officer then requested her personal details during the call.
He told her that she was involved in a money laundering case and asked her to transfer money to several given bank accounts for investigation purposes.
The woman did as told and made 14 money transfer transactions to four different local bank accounts from 14 to 28 August.
The total amount transferred was RM601,850.
The victim only realised she had been cheated after informing her daughter about the matter.
She then lodged a report at the Seberang Perai Tengah District Police Headquarters.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. – Bernama
