ALOR STAR: A teacher at a school in Changlun, near here, was cheated out of RM333,000 by members of a Macau Scam syndicate, recently.
The 51-year-old teacher received a phone call on June 29 from an individual claiming to be a Pos Malaysia employee.
"The suspect said he was calling from Pos Malaysia. He said a package was sent with details of the victim's identity card and bank card information.
"He then connected the victim to another suspect, who introduced himself as Inspector Mazlan from the Seremban Contingent Police Headquarters. He informed the victim that he was involved in a drug trafficking syndicate and had made money through illegal means," Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Elias Omar said in a statement.
After that, the victim was patched through to another suspect, who introduced himself as Inspector Chong, who offered to help the victim resolve the case by making a payment.
According to Elias, the teacher transferred the money in stages on the same day (June 29) to July 3, involving 37 transactions, to four bank accounts.
"On July 6, the victim received a phone call from an unidentified man who informed him that he had been convicted by the court. The suspect then asked the victim for RM100,000 for bail, but the victim began to have doubts and realised he had been duped," he said.
Elias said the RM333,000 lost in the Macau Scam was the highest recorded in Kedah this month, and that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
"Police are advising the public not to be fooled by phone calls from strangers who claim to be authorities, and to always check the validity of information received," he said.