KUANTAN: A bank officer was left dumbfounded after losing RM260,400 of his Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) savings to scammers impersonating as Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officers.
The incident unfolded on July 16 when the 55-year-old victim from here received a call from a man who introduced himself as a 'MCMC officer'.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the caller informed the victim that he was involved in a commercial crime case before the call was transferred to a police officer.
"The policeman told the victim that he has been issued with an arrest warrant and asset freezing order from the 'Federal Court of Malaysia'. The victim was ordered to declare all his assets and savings.
"The victim was coaxed to withdraw and transfer his entire EPF savings to another bank account provided by the suspect. The victim was told to cooperate by providing all his banking details to the suspect," he said in a statement today.
Yahaya said the victim did not suspect anything amiss until he contacted the financial institution on July 28 when he was told that the money which he had deposited had been withdrawn.
"The suspect was informed that a third party had allegedly withdrawn his cash amounting RM260,400 through online transactions on several occasions. The victim then lodged a police report," he said, adding the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Yahaya advised members of the public to be extra careful when befriending strangers through social media and conduct checks at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before carrying out any transaction.