IPOH: A 45-year-old woman has lost RM168,400 after falling victim to a bogus health ministry officer who claimed that she had taken several controlled medicines from the Penang Hospital.
Ipoh district police chief ACP Yahaya Hassan said the victim, who works as a government agency officer from Taman Tawas Gemilang, received a call from an unknown person on Jan 5.
“The scammer introduced himself as an officer from the ministry’s pharmacy division and claimed that she had taken several controlled medicines from the Penang Hospital.
“When the woman denied this, the line was transferred to a ‘police officer’ alleged to be from the Penang police headquarters and the victim was told that she was involved in drug smuggling and money laundering activities.
“To further convince her, the line was transferred to another ‘police officer’ from Bukit Aman who told her to follow all the instructions given,” he said in a statement today.
Yahaya said that the victim, who was already frightened at this point, followed all instructions and sent a copy of her MyKad.
The suspect also sent her a letter titled “Polis Diraja Malaysia” which contained the victim’s details and allegedly linked her to drug smuggling and money laundering, as well as an arrest warrant in her name.
He said the victim had withdrawn her money totalling RM168,400 to deposit it into five different bank accounts.
“It was only after this that the victim realised that she had been defrauded and lodged a complaint with the police yesterday (Feb 9),” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - Bernama
