By Aida Aziz
TAIPING: Due to worry over being allegedly involved in a criminal case, a businessman lost RM418,200.
The victim from Taiping suffered losses after being deceived by a ‘phone scam’ syndicate posing as police officers.
According to the Perak Chief of Police, Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri, the 36-year-old victim only realized that he had been deceived after almost a month and making seven money transfers to six different banks.
“On March 30, at around 4.07 pm, the police received a report from a local businessman in Taiping.
“The victim stated that he was deceived and defrauded by a syndicate engaged in impersonation scams (phone scam).
“Initial investigations found that on February 27 at 10.30 am, while at a bank in Taiping, the victim received a phone call from a man introducing himself as a police officer named Insp. Hazizi (suspect).
“The suspect informed the victim that he was involved in a criminal case and sent an arrest warrant issued in the victim’s name via the Whatsapp application,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
He said that the suspect allegedly had checked with Bank Negara Malaysia and found that the victim had fixed deposits in the bank.
Afterwards, the victim was instructed to transfer from their fixed deposit account to a regular savings account.
“The victim is unsure how the suspect obtained information about their fixed deposit account as they never provided any account details to the suspect.
“Then, the suspect informed the victim that in order to avoid legal action, they must make payments.
Due to fear and worry, from February 27 to March 26, the victim made seven transfers to six different bank accounts totaling RM418,200.
“Upon realizing the suspect was impersonating a police officer, the victim suspected they had been deceived and reported to the police,” he said.
Mohd Yusri said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code (cheating) and investigations are still ongoing.
Therefore, he advised the public not to easily be deceived by calls from unfamiliar numbers.
