PETALING JAYA: A company manager, a politician, teacher, a doctor and a pensioner – they are all victims who have fallen prey to Macau scams just this month alone.

       They were told they either owed tax arrears, had committed an offence such as money-laundering or had bought a non-existent insurance policy.

       They were then directed to another “official” such as a police officer, who told the victims that they were involved in a crime and needed to make payments or “processing fees” to get them off the hook.

       The victims then disclosed personal details, bank account and credit card information to the scammers before losing their hard-earned money.

       Johor police on Tuesday noted a spike in Macau scam cases with losses amounting to almost RM10mil within the first four months of this year.

       On April 19, a company manager was reported to have lost more than RM1.2mil after she was duped by a person posing as an insurance agent.

       Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Elias Omar said the 46-year-old woman from Kulim, Kedah, received a phone call in October last year from a “Sabrina” claiming to be from a well-known insurance company asking the victim to make payment for a RM70,000 policy.

       The victim denied purchasing the insurance policy and was redirected to the “Pudu police station” where she spoke on the phone to so-called police officers who informed her that an arrest warrant had been issued against her for her involvement in money laundering and murder cases.

       “Deputy public prosecutor Puan Mastura” then informed her that she had suspended the arrest warrant but the victim had to cooperate with the police and report her daily activities.

       The victim was also asked to transfer RM900,000 from Tabung Haji to her Bank Islam account and RM200,000 to her Bank Rakyat account.

       On April 11, she found out that both accounts had been emptied.

       On the same day, a Kelantan assemblyman was also reported to have lost RM84,529 to a scammer who posed as a Melaka Internal Revenue Board (LHDN) officer.

       Kelantan Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Asst Comm Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the victim was told he owed RM52,900.78 in tax arrears before his call was transferred to a police officer with a Datuk title.

       The victim was asked to verify his accounts through a so-called Bank Negara Malaysia link given via WhatsApp and he only realised that he was manipulated after he went to the bank to check his accounts.

       Earlier on April 8, a retired teacher was in tears as she lodged a police report in Melaka after she lost almost RM250,000 to scammers who had misled her into believing she had been linked to a money laundering case. A 21-year-old student also fell for the same “storyline” and lost RM12,000.

       Earlier this month, a doctor in Tawau, Sabah, was reported to have lost RM747,000 after he was tricked into believing that his name had been used to get medications.

       Meanwhile, the media on April 4 reported a teacher from Sipitang, Sabah, was tricked into believing her name has been misused and lost over RM254,000 to a scam syndicate.

       Sipitang OCPD Deputy Supt Champin Piuh said this was the third such case reported in the district this year, the others involving an education officer and a health officer.