BALIK PULAU: A factory technician here became RM155,402.50 poorer after she fell victim to the Macau scam syndicate.
The 56-year-old only realised her money missing yesterday when she checked her bank account and found only RM115.20 in it.
Southwest district police chief Superintendent A.A. Anbalagan said the victim's ordeal started on Jan 14 last year, when she received a call at her workplace, supposedly from a "policewoman", who told her that she had caused a fatal accident.
He said the suspect then asked for the victim's MyKad details for some checks.
He added that the telephone line was then transferred to a man, who asked about the victim's bank accounts, saying that the accounts would be frozen for investigations.
"The male suspect had asked the victim to open an account with Agro Bank and to register a telephone line using the latter's MyKad details as the pin number.
The suspect also asked the victim to transfer all her Employees Provident Fund and Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) money into the Agro Bank account.
"The victim went to Agro Bank to open a new account the following day and had provided details to the suspect.
"Yesterday, about 10am, the victim had gone to Agro Bank to check the balance in her account and was surprised to find only RM115.20 in it.
The remaining RM155,402.50 had gone missing," he said today, adding that the victim immediately lodged a police report.
Anbalagan said the syndicate was so cunning in instructing the victim not to alert anyone to the matter.
"The victim even kept it from one of her children, who is a bank officer," he added.
Anbalagan advised the public to be wary of such tactics deployed by such syndicates and not to deal with anyone using merely the telephone or social media.
The case is investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.