KUANTAN: For the past 11 months, a 69-year-old vegetable trader has been transferring his hard-earned savings to a 'banker based abroad' without realising that he was being scammed.
The senior citizen from Cameron Highlands was tricked into depositing RM958,088 of his savings after being sweet-talked into believing that he is set to inherit some RM61 million in a deal with the bogus banker. Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the incident unfolded on March 30 last year when the victim received a phone call from the bank officer through Facebook.
"The banker claimed he was calling from the Barclays Bank based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The suspect offered the victim a deal saying he only needs to admit to be the relative of an individual who has left behind a fortune amounting US$26 million (RM123 million).
"If he agreed with the deal, the victim was promised fifty per cent from the total amount of cash. The call was then connected to a lawyer who told the victim he was handling the case and will transfer the amount promised for the victim when everything was sorted out.
"The victim was instructed to pay tax, levy charges, anti-laundering fees and various other payments. The man used his savings to make 70 transactions amounting RM958,088 to 26 different bank accounts," he said, adding the victim made the payments between May 9 last year and March 11.
Yahaya said the victim lodged a police report yesterday after he was continuously pressured into making various payments in order to earn the cash.
He advised the public to be wary of phone calls from someone claiming to offer such deals and immediately verify the calls with the authorities to avoid falling victim to such scams.
Yahaya said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.