Photo for illustration purposes only. — Photo from Max Pixel
KUCHING (Jan 4): A civil servant in his 40s lost RM179,400 to a Macau scam after the scammers accused him of being involved in money laundering.
In a statement today, Padawan police chief Supt Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said a police report was received from the victim yesterday (Jan 2).
“The victim was first contacted on Oct 13 last year by a man claiming to be from Menara Telekom telling him that he has three months of outstanding bills for a Unifi package that was registered in Kelantan,” said Abang Zainal.
He said the call was then forwarded to a bogus policeman named ‘Sgt Mohamad Khairul’, who claimed to be from the Kota Bharu police contingent headquarters.
The suspect then told the victim that he was involved in money laundering together with a ‘Datuk’ and the case was being investigated by a ‘Sgt Mohd Fitri’.
“The suspect also told the victim to pay ‘collateral’ to four bank accounts, which he did in 14 transactions between Oct 13 and Dec 19,” said Abang Zainal.
The victim only realised that he was scammed after failing to contact ‘Sgt Mohd Fitri’.
Abang Zainal advised the public not to easily fall victim to scams by keeping calm when receiving calls from unknown individuals claiming to be from any government agency, financial institution, or courier service.
“Just end the call and check the phone number that was used or visit the nearest branch…
