Grandmother falls victim to phone scam syndicate, losses RM80,000

KUANTAN - An elderly woman lost RM79,992 after falling victim to a phone scam syndicate posing as Bank Negara officials last Tuesday.

Pahang police chief Datuk Yahaya Othman said the 72-year-old woman received a call from the suspect informing her that her credit card had been used for drug smuggling transactions abroad.

He said the suspect then asked the victim for her banking details and proceeded to log on to her online banking account.

"After some time, the victim received several short message service (SMS) about money transfer transactions from her account.

"Following this, the victim who suffered a loss of RM79,992 lodged a police report at Kuantan District Police Headquarters," he said in a statement today.

The police have advised the public to immediately verify any suspicious calls with the police or government agencies to avoid falling victim to these scam syndicates.

The public were also reminded to first verify the account number and phone number used to contact them at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before proceeding with any transactions.