KUANTAN, April 28 — Two women lost RM1.4 million after being duped by a phone scam syndicate from September 2024 to April 2026.

Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the first case involved a 60-year-old local woman who is a retired teacher in Kuantan.

He said the victim received a phone call on September 6, 2024 from an individual posing as a police officer and informing her that she was allegedly involved in a money laundering case and the sale of ATM cards to criminals.

“To deceive the victim, the suspect ordered the woman to make an affidavit and police report via phone call and recorded the victim’s voice as a confession. The victim was then threatened with two choices: either to be arrested and remanded or to hand over all her property,” he said in a statement today.

He said the victim had made 122 money transfer transactions worth RM1.014 million to several bank accounts during the period of Sept 6, 2024 to April 5 this year, in addition to being ordered to report six times a day every three hours and prohibited from informing any party about the matter.

“The losses involved personal savings, EPF savings, house sale proceeds, retirement funds, personal loans, jewellery mortgages as well as other investments and savings belonging to the victim,” he said.

In the second case, Yahaya said a 42-year-old teacher in Raub suffered a loss of RM431,000 after being deceived by a syndicate posing as an officer of a takaful insurance company and a police officer on February 2.

He said the victim was allegedly informed that she was involved in a case of fake insurance claims totalling RM68,000 in addition to money laundering and corruption.

“The victim was instructed to declare her bank accounts and change her phone number for internet banking purposes before making several money transfer transactions to bank accounts under the suspect’s control. The transactions were supposedly for case management and court bail payment purposes,” he said.

In this regard, Yahaya advised the public to immediately check with the police or relevant government agencies if they receive suspicious calls, in addition to reminding the public to check the account number received via the Semak Mule portal before making any transactions. — Bernama

KOTA TINGGI, April 27 — A 59-year-old farmer lost RM738,950 after falling victim to an online investment scam known as the “AI Investment” scheme.

Kota Tinggi police chief Supt Yusof Othman said the victim was approached in February by an unknown woman via WhatsApp, who lured him with promises of returns worth millions of ringgit.

Believing the offer to be genuine, the victim subsequently made five money transfers to four different bank accounts.

“The victim made additional payments in stages through five transactions amounting to RM738,950 in an attempt to release purported profits that had been blocked on the investment application, which allegedly totalled RM10 million,” Yusof said in a statement today.

The victim only realised he had been scammed after he was unable to withdraw any of the promised returns. He later lodged a police report yesterday.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama

If you browse cameras on eBay, you’ve likely come across a deal that looked too-good-to-be-true: high-end, new, shiny, bargain basement price, and offered for sale by a seller with zero feedback. In the interest of research (and curiosity) I bought one of these cameras on eBay knowing I would likely be scammed. I wasn't disappointed.

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