MIRI: A 40-year-old housewife here was duped out of RM239,000 by a Macau Scam syndicate member posing as a police officer, on Thursday.
According to Bernama, the woman received a phone call on April 4 from a man claiming to be a Customs officer. The “officer” informed her that she had a Goods and Services Tax (GST) debt amounting to RM45,700 for a company registered under her name.
When she denied the charge, the “Customs officer” patched the call to a man claiming to be a police officer who told her she was involved in a money laundering case involving RM1.2 million.
The woman was given two options – to either surrender to the authorities or transfer money from her bank account to another account for “investigation purposes”.
“The victim panicked and followed the suspect’s instructions by opening a new bank account, and providing him with her online banking information, such as her username and password.
“The suspect then transferred RM213,000 and then RM26,000 to (his own) account,” Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said in a statement.