Elderly woman loses RM1.34 million to Macau Scam

JOHOR BAHRU - A 74-year-old woman lost RM1.34 million in a Macau Scam after receiving a phone call claiming that she was involved in fraud and illegal activities.

Acting Muar district police chief Supt Muhammad Aidil Roneh Abdullah said the woman was contacted by an individual at the end of May, claiming that there was a delivery made to her containing the identification card, automated teller machine (ATM) card and cheque book of another individual that was against the law.

Her call was then passed to another individual claiming to be a police officer, who then directed her to disclose her personal banking details for audit purposes and she complied out of fear of having ‘action’ taken against her.

He also said that the victim was ordered to transfer her savings and make cash payments to both the accounts that she had disclosed for the same reason.

When the victim checked both accounts that she had exposed to the individual on Thursday, she discovered that over RM1.34 million had been transferred out without her knowledge. She then realised she had been scammed and lodged a police report yesterday, he added.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the telephone number used to contact the victim had been used previously and was linked to several reported cases this year, Muhammad Aidil said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud. - BERNAMA