• 2025-09-09 12:59 PM

KUANTAN: A 55-year-old teacher lost nearly 200,000 ringgit of her life savings after falling victim to an elaborate online fraud syndicate that falsely accused her of money laundering.

Kuantan police chief ACP Ashari Abu Samah confirmed the victim initially received a phone call from an individual posing as an insurance company representative.

The caller subsequently transferred her to another person who claimed to be a police officer.

The fraudster then accused the teacher of involvement in money laundering activities and instructed her to make a so-called self-bail payment.

Between 14 February and 7 September 2025, the victim performed 41 separate transactions into 32 different bank accounts.

She used her personal savings and funds from her child’s National Education Savings Scheme account to make the payments.

The teacher also pawned her jewellery and sold shares to raise additional money for the fraudulent demands.

She only realised she had been deceived after the suspect instructed her to delete all conversation records and payment receipts.

The victim subsequently filed a police report at the Kuantan district police headquarters yesterday.

Authorities are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. – Bernama