KUANTAN: A 60-year-old pensioner, who assumed that she had outsmarted a scammer, found herself caught in a web of deceit after losing RM333,000 last month.
To make matters worse, the former teacher from Raub not only lost her hard-earned savings but ended up pawning her jewellery and taking a bank loan.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the victim's ordeal began last month when she received a phone call from an individual, impersonating an insurance agent.
"The bogus insurance agent informed the victim that someone had made an insurance claim using her name. The woman denied the matter before ending the call.
"After some time, the victim received a call from a man who introduced himself as Sergeant Zaidi. He claimed that the victim's Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) account was linked with money laundering activities amounting to RM2.8 million. The pensioner told him that she did not have an account at BSN.
"The bogus policeman then instructed the victim to go to the nearest bank and change her handphone number. The victim was told that it was part of Bank Negara Malaysia's anti-fraud procedure," he said in a statement today.
Yahaya said the victim was instructed to transfer all her savings into a bank account provided by the "policeman".
"She was also tricked into taking a bank loan and pawning her jewellery. All the cash was transferred into an account provided by the scammer.
"The victim only realised that she had been cheated after the scammer continued to harass her to transfer more cash. She lodged a police report yesterday," he said.
Yahaya advised the public to be cautious when receiving calls from strangers and to conduct checks at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before carrying out any transaction.