KANGAR: A 61-year-old retiree has lost RM373,000 to a syndicate that pulled a Macau scam on her since November last year, says Supt Wan Aedil Wan Abdullah.

       The Perlis Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief said in a statement on Thursday (April 21) that the former civil servant had received a telephone call from a person claiming to represent an insurance company.

       He added that the person told the victim that she had made a claim for medical treatment compensation on the basis of a road accident.

       "She (the retiree) claimed that the call was transferred allegedly to an investigating officer at the Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department by the name of Puan Yong who charged that she was involved in money laundering,” he said.

       Wan Aedil said the scammers instructed the retiree to deposit all her savings into one bank account and register the caller’s telephone number to the account.

       He added that she was also instructed to transfer the money and provide details of the account to the scammer, he said, adding that online transactions were made subsequently without her knowledge.

       "The money transfer transactions took place between November 2021 and April this year. The retiree became aware of these after finding out that the balance in the account had dwindled to RM124.20,” he said, adding that the retiree then lodged a police report.

       He said the investigation discovered that the two telephone numbers used had also been used in 25 scam cases elsewhere in the country.

       Wan Aedil advised the public not to panic easily and fall for the modus operandi of these scammers but to conduct checks first.

       "The public can check with the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department via the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559 or 03-26101599,” he said. - Bernama