JOHOR BARU: A company director lost more than RM1 million after being duped by a man claiming to be 'Inspector Harun' in a phone scam last month.
The 37-year-old woman's ordeal began when she received a call at around 3pm on Oct 31 from someone claiming to represent a delivery company.
Johor police chief Datuk M Kumar said the caller informed the woman that there was a parcel in her name, allegedly containing a cheque book and a bank token.
"The woman denied making any such request, and the call was then transferred to the police for her to lodge a report to declare that she had not made the request.
"The woman claimed she spoke to 'Inspector Harun', who claimed that a Visa card under her name had been found and was allegedly linked to fraud and money laundering cases.
"The woman was then instructed to transfer all her money into another account, purportedly for Bank Negara's investigation purposes," he said in a statement.
Fearing legal action, the woman transferred RM1,140,320 to the bank account provided by the man claiming to be a 'police officer'.
"The victim realised she had been scammed when she was asked to transfer more money, despite already transferring a substantial amount earlier. She then lodged a police report," he said, adding that the report was lodged yesterday.
"The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating" he added.
Kumar urged the public to exercise caution when receiving calls from individuals claiming to be police officers or representatives of any enforcement agency.
"Please remember that the authorities will never instruct anyone to transfer money into a bank account for investigation purposes," he said.