BINTULU: A medical laboratory technologist was duped out of RM400,000 after she was misled into believing she was involved in money laundering and online gambling.
The unfortunate ordeal unfolded in June when the victim in her early 40s, received a call from an unknown individual claiming to be from the Ministry of Communications and Digital.
Sarawak Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata said the suspect spooked the victim into believing that there had been 27 complaints against her for online gambling offenses in Perak.
Following that, the victim’s call was connected to a Sergeant Major Hong from Perak Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) where she was told that her name was involved in money laundering and online gambling.
“To clear her name and resolve the case, the victim was coerced into speaking to an ‘Insp Umar’ whereby under the pretense of assisting the investigation, the victim was instructed to transfer money from her account into the bank account of a supposed ‘Bank Negara confidential auditor’.
“Trapped in fear and panic, the victim transferred a sum of RM100,000 into two bank accounts provided by the suspect via 12 transactions in early June.
“After doing so, the victim was again instructed to get a loan from three banks between mid-June to early July, amounting to RM300,000,” he said.
The suspect continued to exploit the victim’s anxiety and urged her to provide her online banking credentials including IDs and passwords for the bank accounts she used to get the loan, ostensibly for further investigation.
However, as events unfolded, the victim began to grow suspicious of the situation and she realised that she was scammed when she confided in her husband about the incident.
Mancha advised the public not to entertain unknown phone calls and immediately notify their partners, friends, or family members should they receive such phone calls, as well as to check with the police, banks, or related agencies for confirmation.
In addition, the public are also told not to panic or worry and be afraid of any allegations made against you if you have not done anything wrong.
He added that they should never provide their banking information to any unknown individuals or parties.
