'Bank executive' and 'police sergeant, inspector' cons woman of RM90,000
HANI SHAMIRA SHAHRUDIN
New Straits Times2 December 2017
KLANG: A woman lost RM90,000 after she was conned into believing that she was wanted for being involved in a money laundering case.
The 44-year-old woman from Klang received a call from a man who claimed to be a bank executive on Thursday, saying that she had an outstanding loan from the bank amounting to RM3,376.
Her details were said to have been used to apply for the loan from the bank’s branch in Ipoh, Perak.
South Klang police chief Assistant Commissioner Shamsul Amar Ramli said the victim denied having applied for the loan but the ‘bank executive’ told her that he would transfer the call to Perak police headquarters.
“The victim then talked to a woman who claimed to be a sergeant. The sergeant confirmed that her name was used to apply for a loan.
“She was then asked to read out her identification card’s number, and the victim was told that she was on the police’s wanted list for being involved in a money laundering case, along with another man,” Shamsul said in a statement.
The victim denied the allegation but the sergeant then directed the call to another man claiming to be an Inspector.
The 'Inspector' then told the victim that she had to surrender her money to be audited and assured her that the funds would be returned after the investigation, failing which could result in her being arrested for 45 days for not cooperating with the police.
For the money transfer to happen, the ‘Inspector’ had asked for her account details, online banking’s username and also the password.
The woman who was frightened, complied with the 'Inspector's' request and gave her company’s banking details. She soon received a transaction authorisation code on her mobile phone which he made her read out.
The ‘Inspector’ then convinced the victim that the money would be transferred to the Audit Department for verification and if there was no problem, it would be returned.
Shamsul said the transactions took place nine times and the ‘Inspector' assured her that the funds would be returned on Dec 1 at 4pm, before ending the call.
The woman later told her neighbour, who was a police personnel attached at the South Klang’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department, about the call.
“The policeman believed that the woman was conned, and advised her to lodge a report,” Shamsul said.
The woman also received a call from the bank saying that she had performed nine transactions to an unknown account.
The police are tracking down the perpetrators.
In another separate case, a septuagenarian lost RM9,500 after he was duped into believing that he won a car in a lucky draw in Kelana Jaya on Friday.
The 78-year-old man was putting groceries into his car at the parking lot of the hypermarket when a man approached asking him to look at his receipt of purchases and said that he had won a car. The man was then taken to Bukit Tinggi, Klang to "claim his prize."
“Upon arriving in Klang, the man asked for the victim's bank cards claiming that he also wanted to transfer some cash winnings. The victim had passed his cards along with its personal identification numbers and two mobile phones to the man,” Shamsul said.
The man was then asked to wait while the man collected the car on his behalf.
After waiting for three hours, the victim realised that he had been a victim of a scam.
Checks with the banks revealed that a total of RM5,000 was cashed out and RM4,500 transaction was made with his credit card.
Shamsul confirmed that the case was being investigated under Section 402 of the Penal Code for cheating. © New Straits Times
