KUANTAN: Teachers across Pahang were duped RM1.2 million by scammers in the first seven months of this year.
State police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said, in total, RM59 million has been lost to scams in Pahang in that period.
He said 45 cases involving teachers were recorded between January and July this year compared to 61 cases with losses amounting to RM1.4 million in the same period last year.
"Based on the reports received by the department, we found that many teachers fell victim to Macau Scam syndicates, non-existent investment schemes and were lured by bogus deals to purchase goods online. Retired teachers were usually tricked into investing in fake investment schemes.
"We hope providing the latest information on the scam tactics will help raise awareness and provide the necessary exposure so that teachers will be extra careful when they face a similar situation (calls from unknown individuals) in the future.
"They must be able to identify red flags to avoid becoming victims.
"Town hall meetings are among the measures taken to prevent teachers and others in the education sector from becoming potential victims. Police will continue arranging similar sessions by providing explanations and holding campaigns as part of the efforts to combat scams," he said.
Yahaya was met after opening the Pahang-level anti-scam townhall session held between the police and state Education Department at SMK Tengku Afzan here.
Meanwhile, on the case involving a 38-year-old charity association secretary who lost her savings worth RM728,480 to scammers yesterday, he said investigations revealed the victim felt "threatened" after receiving phone calls from individuals impersonating the authorities.
"The victim did not verify the information or speak about the phone conversation she had with the unknown callers with her family members. She transferred the money as instructed by the scammers and only informed her family when she ran out of cash.
"She did not consult anyone when making the 147 transactions into several unknown bank accounts which was done within the space of seven days.
"The public must be always alert and share with others in case they receive suspicious phone calls.... or else they can choose to end the conversation when they feel something is not right," he said.
Yahaya was commenting on the scam incident where the victim lost her late father's and her own savings in less than a week to fraudsters.