KUANTAN: A medical officer had 'innocently" transferred his Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) savings amounting to RM177,930 into several bank accounts before realising that he had been tricked by scammers.
The 29-year-old victim was threatened that he had been issued with an arrest warrant for online gambling and money laundering activities and was instructed to transfer his savings for audit purposes.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the incident unfolded on Aug 5 when the victim from Temerloh received a phone call from an individual claiming to be an officer from the 'multimedia unit'.
"The caller told the victim that his phone number was linked with online gambling activities before the call was transferred to a police officer who told the victim he had criminal records for money laundering cases.
"The victim was informed that the police had an arrest warrant against him and a notice to freeze all his assets. The victim was instructed to download an application allegedly from 'Bank Negara Malaysia' and fill in his bank account details for audit purposes.
"Fearing that he would be arrested, the victim duly followed the syndicate's instruction including transferring his ASB funds into another bank account belonging to him, and later transferring the money in 12 transactions into seven separate bank accounts given by the syndicate," he said in a statement today.
Yahaya said the victim lodged a police report yesterday and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He reminded the public to check on https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before making any online cash transactions.