SIBU: Two housewives here have fallen victims to two different scams, causing them to lose a total of RM6,460.
District police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit explained that in the first case, a 35-year-old housewife was at home in Rejang Park when she received a WhatsApp message from the suspect.
Saying that he was from a courier company, the suspect told her there was a parcel from Poland addressed to her (the victim).
“However, the suspect informed that in order for her to receive the item, she had to pay RM4,500 for customs duty.
“The complainant was then asked to pay half in advance, namely RM2,500 first and the balance will be made on the day the item is delivered to her. She did as told,” he said in a statement.
Stanley stated that after the complainant made the payment for the said amount, she realised that she had been scammed when the suspect requested her to pay another RM14,000.
Meanwhile in the second case, a 28-year-old housewife received three WhatsApp messages around 10am on Sept 2, which offered a quick-approval and low-interest personal loan from a firm called Jackpot Enterprise Company.
“The complainant who was intrigued with the offer asked for RM3,000 to open a small business.
“The suspect then asked her to pay RM1,960 as legal fee for the approval of the loan. She did as instructed and made six transfers on Sept 2 and Sept 3, to two account numbers provided by the suspect,” he told.
He added that after making the transfers, the complainant realised that she was tricked after her attempts to contact the suspect had failed.
Stanley pointed out that these were both cheating cases and were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
