JOHOR BARU: A 64-year-old woman lost RM206,900 to a sophisticated phone scam orchestrated by individuals posing as government officials and police officers.
Johor Baru (North) police chief Assistant Commissioner Balveer Singh said the victim lodged a report yesterday about how several 'officers' first contacted her in July last year.
She received a phone call from an individual claiming to be a Communications Ministry officer, accusing her of being involved in its cybercrime investigation, which she denied.
She received two calls later from two people who introduced themselves as 'Tuan Omar' and 'Inspector Khoo Lee Feng' and claimed to be police officers.
They told her that their investigations revealed that she played a key role in illicit money laundering activities.
To prove her innocence, she was instructed to share her bank account details so the officers could determine whether there were any irregularities in the transactions.
She complied and shared multiple one-time passwords (OTPs), believing it was part of the investigations.
She was instructed to keep the matter confidential, as it may jeopardise their investigations.
Nothing came out of the investigations, and the victim thought it was the end.
However, on Friday (Sept 6), she checked her bank account and discovered 12 unauthorised online bank transfers totalling RM206,900 between Sept 14 and Nov 14 last year.
Her money was transferred to six different bank accounts.
Balveer said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
"Police are also probing into the six bank accounts believed to be mule accounts used to facilitate the illegal transactions," he said in a statement today.
He advised the public to remain cautious, especially with the rise in commercial crime cases.
He also warned against trusting unsolicited offers of investment or job opportunities that promise high returns and easy money.
He advised the public to use online services provided by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), such as Semak Mule, and to contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559/03-2610 1599 or the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 for information related to commercial crime before making payments to third parties.