IPOH: A retired civil servant lost over RM1 million after falling victim to a phone scam, where she willingly surrendered her automated teller machine (ATM) card to the syndicate.
Perak Police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said the 67-year-old victim lodged a report at 4.12pm on Tuesday after she realised she had been scammed by individuals posing as officers from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police.
He said the victim received a call on Aug 8 at her home in Taiping and spoke to a woman claiming to be an MCMC officer, who contacted her using a cellphone number.
The individual told the victim that she was allegedly involved in money laundering activities.
The call was then transferred to a man posing as a police sergeant to "resolve" the case, he said.
Several other individuals claiming to be police officers from the Terengganu police headquarters later contacted the victim using mobile number 017-850 3289.
Azizi said the victim was also instructed to leave her Hong Leong Bank ATM card inside an envelope on the grass at an address provided by the suspect.
"After that, the victim received notification text messages regarding withdrawals from her Hong Leong Bank account between Aug 16 and Aug 23 to two different bank accounts.
"There were also ATM withdrawals amounting to a total of RM476,550, involving 75 transactions," he said in a press conference.
Azizi added that the victim was also instructed by two 'police officers' with the rank of assistant superintendent (ASP) to transfer the money from her bank account to a third-party account for investigation purposes and to prevent her account from being frozen.
"Both suspects also promised to return the victim's completing the investigation is completed.
"Trusting their assurances, the victim made 24 more money transfers from her AmBank account to nine different bank accounts, totalling RM590,000, from Aug 24 to Sept 3."
Upon reviewing her AmBank and Hong Leong Bank statements, the victim realised she had lost a total of RM1.06 million (RM1,066,550), he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.