JOHOR BARU: A 38-year-old female teacher lost a whopping RM387,000 allegedly after she was conned over the phone by an individual impersonating as a traffic policeman.
Johor Police Chief, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said they received a police report in relation to the scam at about 11.48am on Wednesday.
He said the primary school teacher had received a phone call from the suspect on April 4 informing her that she was involved in a hit and run case.
“The modus operandi employed by the suspect was to direct the victim to open a new bank account under their name to assure that funds deposited there would be safe.
“The victim would then be directed by the suspect to register an unknown telephone number (to activate internet banking) on the new bank account which was opened in order to ‘control’ the bank account which was opened by the victim.
"The victim was then ordered to transfer all her monies into the newly opened bank account,” he said in a statement today.
Ayob Khan said the victim would also be told that the matter should not be revealed to anyone, including family and friends.
“The suspect also directed the victim to delete all WhatsApp conversations and destroy the relevant bank slips to erase evidence and information in relation to the transactions.
“The victim is unaware of the loss of money in the newly opened bank account as the suspect controlled it through internet banking.
“The victim in this case suffered a loss of RM387,000 which was from her savings and personal loan,” Ayob Khan said.
The case, he said, is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He said the Johor police had repeatedly advised the public not to be fooled by such Macau scams and not to panic when receiving such calls.
“Do not easily believe allegations received over a telephone call. Never give out personal or bank account information to strangers.
“Law enforcement agencies will never ask for the victim's bank account details and personal information.
“Johor police are also advising the public to check the website to determine if the bank account is involved in fraudulent cases or contact the nearest police station,” he said.