File photo for illustration purposes
KUCHING (March 4): Two local women suffered losses amounting to more than RM377,000 in two separate Macau Scams recently, said Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Supt Maria Rasid.
The first victim, she said, is a 36-year-old female civil servant in Bau who was scammed of more than RM241,556 since Jan 22.
“The scam began when the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from the Cyberjaya Inland Revenue Board on Jan 22 via the number 03-138348880,” Maria said in a statement today.
She added that the suspect then told the victim that her name had been used to register a company in Kuantan, Pahang.
“The suspect also told the victim that the company had 15 months’ worth of outstanding taxes,” said Maria.
A second suspect then introduced himself as a policeman to the victim and claimed that she also had a police record for money laundering and drug smuggling activities.
The victim was also told that there was a bank account under her name which was used for criminal activities. Inside the alleged account was a total of RM228,000.
The victim was then told to declare the money inside the bank account by using an application purportedly linked to Bank Negara Malaysia.
“The victim followed the instructions and filled in her personal and banking details with the application,” said Maria.
She was also told to transfer her savings of RM26,000 inside her Maybank account to CIMB bank for safe keeping. She was also told to apply for a RM200,000 personal loan.
“The victim’s loan was approved on Feb 19 and she was told to transfer RM189,684 to her CIMB bank account. The victim only realised that she was scammed when she realised that the account was left empty and lodged a police report on March 2,” said Maria.
The second case involved a 57-year-old male civil servant from Mukah who was scammed by a bogus police officer calling himself “Inspektor Khoo” since Feb 6.
“The victim received a call on Feb 6 from the suspect telling him that he was involved in a RM2.8 million money laundering case in Ipoh, Perak,” said Maria.
The suspect also told the victim that his name was used to open a bank account which was used by a total of 17 individuals to launder their money.
The victim was also told that the Ipoh High Court had issued a warrant of arrest against him.
“The suspect then told the victim that he is able to iron out the issue under a condition that the victim pays him money,” said Maria.
The victim then started to transfer a total of RM136,000 to the suspects via six online transactions between Feb 8 and Feb 25.
Despite the six money transfers, the suspect kept on bugging the victim to transfer another RM71,000 to avoid him (victim) from being dragged to court in Kuching.
“Sensing that something was amiss, the victim refused to transfer any more money and later lodged a police report at the Mukah district police station,” she added.
Meanwhile, the CCID is advising the public to not entertain anyone making threats via telephone on their alleged involvement in illegal activities such as drugs, money laundering or tax evasion.
“Just put down the phone and visit or call the respective banks or agencies for clarification,” said Maria.
She added that the police or any other government department or agencies would never ask the public to transfer money into a bank account to settle a case.