KUCHING: Macau scam cases are on the rise this year with 136 cases and 79 arrests recorded throughout Sarawak involving losses amounting to RM5.5 million from January 1 to Sunday (June 21).
Last year, police recorded 51 cases and 18 arrests which involved losses totalling RM3.9 million during the same period.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Maria Rasid said that Macau scams have been active lately and cases are reported almost daily in the state.
Two cases were recently reported in Limbang and Sri Aman last Saturday (June 20).
“For the first case in Limbang, a 60-year-old government retiree was contacted by a suspect disguised as a Telekom Malaysia Berhad officer since early March.
“The suspect claimed that the phone line registered in the victim’s name would be cut off for involvement of online gambling activities.
“The call was then patched to another suspect who claimed that the victim received a sum of RM200,000 in her bank account from illegal activities,” Maria said in a statement.
The victim was then ordered to transfer all the money in the savings account to other accounts which were provided by the suspects to allegedly help police conduct investigations into the funds.
A total of 20 transactions of approximately RM516,000 were made to 12 bank accounts under different unidentified individuals between April 15 and May 22.
Maria pointed out that the victim only realised that she was scammed after the suspects did not contact her to inform of the funds in the bank account as promised.
She then stated that for the second case in Sri Aman which happened last Saturday, involved a 42-year-old civil servant.
“The victim was contacted by a suspect from Cyberjaya Inland Revenue Board, who claimed that the victim had tax arrears on a company registered on behalf of the victim, which was later denied by the victim.
“Another call patched through stating that the victim is suspected to be involved and linked to suspect who has been arrested in connection with drugs and money laundering cases.
“The victim was also told to be suspected of selling ATM cards and receiving a commission of RM228,000 from activities of the alleged suspect,” Maria said.
The suspect then directed the victim to transfer money from the bank account to a given account for investigation purposes and to clean the victim’s account.
She added that the victim had transferred about RM6,600 to a bank account under an unidentified individual, and later realised that she was scammed after completing the transaction.
Maria addressed that the main cause of victims being tricked by Macau scam syndicates is the panic — which could cause a person to have anxiety and fear.
“A lackadaisical attitude — easily believing something without checking its authenticity — is a factor in one being deceived,” she said.
Hence, it is advised not to be easily deceived if a party called up saying that he or she has tax arrears or names being used under a company. The public are also reminded not to panic when receiving a call from an unknown person and do not attend to any claims or instructions made by the suspects.
If anyone has any concern or is likely to have been cheated, he or she can channel the information via WhatsApp or text to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Infoline at 013-211 1222.
They can also visit the official portal http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/# for up-to-date information and advice on financial fraud.
In addition, the public may also contact Bank Negara Malaysia by calling 1-300-88 5465 (LINK); 082-224200 (BNM Kuching); or email bnmtelelink@bnm.gov.my.
