SIBU (May 24): A 37-year-old accounts clerk from Jalan Satria here has lost a total of RM101,000 to a Macau scam syndicate.
Sibu police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said the victim was duped into believing she was somehow involved in money laundering.
He said on May 18, the victim received a call from an individual claiming to be a telecommunications company officer, who told her that she had outstanding telephone bills in Kuantan totalling RM537.45.
“The call was then transferred to ‘Sergeant Johari’, who told the victim that she was involved in money laundering activities.
“She received another call from ‘Sergeant Albert Lai’ later on the same day informing her they would investigate the matter before she received messages from ‘Tuan Ling’,” he said.
The purported Tuan Ling claimed the authorities had issued a warrant of arrest and a notice to freeze the victim’s assets.
‘Tuan Ling’ also sent a notice, purportedly from National Audit Department, which instructed the victim to pay RM12,800 to enable the investigation of the money laundering case, Stanley said.
He said the victim heeded the instructions and then ended up paying a total of RM101,000 in 12 transactions to six different bank accounts.
“’Tuan Ling’ told her that the National Audit Department would investigate the matter further.
“She only realised she was cheated later and lodged a police report on May 22,” he said.
Stanley added the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.