Hearing stories of people falling victim to scams is a growing concern among Malaysians, given how common it has become. In another unfortunate turn of events, an elderly woman has found herself entangled in the scammer’s web.
M’sian retiree duped by ‘BNM officer’ in phone call scam
According to the New Straits Times, a 71-year-old woman came forward to report her predicament which had began from a text message. The woman was alerted of a RM110,000 credit card charge via a text delivered to her phone.
She proceeded to contact the phone number on the text, and was answered by a woman who introduced herself as a ‘BNM officer’. The ‘officer’ then explained to the woman that her bank account would be frozen due to suspicions that she was in cahoots with a scam syndicate.
On the pretext of sympathising with the elderly woman, the ‘officer’ offered to pass her on to a senior police officer to investigate. Speaking to an ‘Inspector Loh Thee How’, the fake inspector convinced her to provide her bank details in order to reimburse her RM110,000.
Instead, the woman was horrified to discover her money being transferred out to multiple bank accounts, over the course of 13th to 14th of July. Five transfers were performed totaling a RM202,800 loss.
Johor police chief Commissioner Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat addressed the incident and revealed that this was a typical tactic practiced by scammers. First, they would scare the victim by claiming that they were accomplices in a scam operation.
The initial money that was lost would be transferred into a mule scammer’s account, and they would then propose measures to retrieve it. After securing the victim’s bank details, the remaining funds would be channeled out. The case is currently being investigated by the authorities in order to locate the scammers and bring them to justice.
It is hoped that this case would remind others to be more careful with their money, no matter what the situation may seem to be.
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Also read: This M’sian shared how she got a refund after her card got charged randomly by scammers on Facebook
