PADAWAN: The Macau scam syndicate has struck yet again.
This time, disguised as an Inland Revenue Board officer, a racket member fleeced a 30-year-old man out of RM70,000 in savings.
In the incident which occurred on Aug 29, the suspect had allegedly told the gullible victim that the latter had some unpaid taxes.
District deputy police chief DSP Lim Jaw Shyong said the victim received a phone call from the suspect around 3pm last Sunday.
“The caller told the victim that he had tax arrears amounting to more than RM17,000 from a company in Kedah.
“However, the victim denied the claims and was later directed to another call purportedly from a policeman.
“The victim was told he was involved in money laundering, and forced to provide personal and banking information for investigation purposes,” he said.
Lim said the suspect did as instructed, including providing his banking details.
The victim later checked his bank account and realised a sum of RM50,000 from his Hong Leong Bank account had been transferred to an Ambank account under an unfamiliar name.
“Another transaction of RM20,000 from the victim’s Public Bank account was transferred to a Hong Leong Bank account which was also under an unfamiliar name,” Lim said, adding that the victim had lodged a police report.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
