SEREMBAN: A widow and a teacher lost almost RM1.6mil in two separate phone scams here after being accused of not paying their taxes and for being involved in illegal activities.

       The 77-year-old widow lost about RM1.19mil after she received a call from a woman claiming to be from the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), said state Commercial Crime Investigations Department chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani.

       He said the widow was told that her company owed LHDN almost RM19,000 in arrears.

       When the victim explained that she was merely a retired government servant and did not own any company, the caller then transferred the call to what was supposedly the Kedah police contingent.

       This was to enable the widow to lodge a report, as the company was said to be registered in Kedah, added Supt Aibee.

       He said the victim then spoke to one “Sgt Amir Hamzah” and then “Insp Fazli Yusuf”, who both told her that her company was involved in money laundering activities.

       She again denied this, and the call was then supposedly transferred to Bukit Aman where she spoke with someone claiming to be “Asst Comm Datuk Koh Eng Guan” from the intelligence division.

       “She panicked and started crying, but ‘ACP Koh’ managed to calm her down and started asking how much money she had in the bank.

       “Sadly, the victim gave the details of all of her nine bank accounts,” he said.

       On April 21, the so-called ACP Koh asked the woman to send him a picture of herself and a copy of her MyKad via WhatsApp. He also told her he was going to Kedah to arrest a suspect named Lim Wai Kang.

       The following day, ACP Koh sent the victim a copy of a letter purportedly from the Federal Court directing that the source of her assets be investigated.

       She was told that all of her money would be deposited in one account in Bank Negara.

       Supt Aibee said the victim did as she was told and transferred some RM727,000 from one of her accounts into another bank.

       “She finally told her son about the matter, and got a shock when he told her she had been scammed.

       “Upon checking, she discovered that the balance of the money was also withdrawn from her other accounts between March 21 and April 18,” Supt Aibee said.

       In the second case, a 39-year-old teacher lost almost RM395,000 after she received a call from a man also claiming to be from LHDN on March 15, said Supt Aibee.

       The teacher was told she had arrears amounting to RM38,000, and the call was then transferred to the “Kelantan police contingent”.

       “One Sgt David then accused her of being involved in drug smuggling and for having links to a criminal named Tan Boon Keat who was wanted for money laundering activities,” he said.

       The call was then put through to one Insp Richard who said an arrest warrant had been issued.

       “The call was transferred again, this time to one ACP Datuk Wan Amina, who asked the victim to bank in RM39,800 into another account to clear her name.

       “She was also told to transfer money into four other bank accounts while her case was supposedly being investigated,” said Supt Aibee.

       The victim had to take bank loans to do so, he added.

       She finally realised she had been duped and lodged a police report.