KUANTAN, Aug 23 — Panicked that he will be arrested caused a vegetable gardener in Cameron Highlands to lose RM792,669.45 after being deceived by a Macau scam syndicate.
Pahang Police Chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the 54-year-old victim claimed he was scammed after he received a phone call on June 19 from a man who introduced himself as an employee of a courier company.
"The suspect told the victim to speak to a second suspect who disguised himself as a police officer because the items addressed to him contained credit cards, identification cards and passports.
"The 'police officer' said an arrest warrant was issued for the victim following an investigation into a money laundering scheme which will cause his bank account to be frozen," he said in a statement here today.
Yahaya said the victim, who was afraid of the threat claimed he had been instructed to transfer money from his savings account to five different accounts given by the second suspect allegedly for the purpose of investigation.
However, he said the victim got suspicious after failing to contact the suspect to ask about the progress of the investigation, causing him to go to the police station to lodge a report yesterday.
Yahaya advised people who receive suspicious calls to check with the police or relevant government agencies to avoid becoming the victims of fraud.
They can also check the account numbers given and phone numbers of the callers at https://semakmule.rmp. gov.my before making any financial transactions.
— Bernama
