SEREMBAN: A widow and a teacher lost almost RM1.6mil in two Macau scams here after being accused of not paying their taxes and for being involved in illegal activities.
State Commercial Crime Investigations Department chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said in the first case, a 77-year-old widow lost almost RM1.19mil after she received a call from a woman claiming to be from the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).
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He said the victim was told that her company owed the LHDN almost RM19,000 in arrears.
"The victim denied that she owned any company and that she was only a retired government servant.
"The caller then apparently transferred the call to the Kedah police contingent as the company was registered in the state to allow the victim to lodge a report " he said.
Supt Aibee said the victim then spoke to one Sgt Amir Hamzah and Insp Fazli Yusuf who told her that her company was involved in money laundering activities.
She again denied this and this time the call was supposedly transferred to Bukit Aman where she spoke with one ACP 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 saved in the bank.
"Sadly, the victim gave all details of her nine bank accounts " he said.
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On April 21, ACP Koh asked the victim to send him her picture and a copy of her identity card via WhatsApp and that he will be heading to Kedah to arrest a suspect.
The following day, ACP Koh sent the victim a copy of a letter purportedly from the Federal Court directing that the source of victim's assets be probed.
She was told that all her money would be saved in one account in Bank Negara.
Supt Aibee said the victim did as 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 told that she had been scammed.
"Upon checking, she discovered that the balance of the money were withdrawn from her other accounts from March 21 and April 18," he said.
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Supt Aibee said in the second case, a 39-year-old teacher lost almost RM395,000 after she got a call from a man claiming to be from the LHDN on March 15.
The victim was told she had arrears amounting to RM38,000 and the call was then transferred to the Kelantan police contingent.
"One Sjn David then accused the victim of being involved in drug smuggling activities and for having links with a criminal who was wanted for money laundering activities," he said.
The call was then put through to one Insp Richard who said an arrest warrant has been issued under her name.
"The call was transferred again and this time one ACP Datuk Wan Amina spoke to the victim and asked her to bank in RM39,800 into another account to clear her name.
"She was also told to transfer more money into four other bank accounts while her case was being investigated," he said.
Supt Aibee said the victim had to take bank loans to do so as well as to clear her so called tax arrears.
She finally realised that she had been duped and lodged a report.
Both cases are being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The offence carries a jail term of between one and 10 years, whipping and a fine, upon conviction.
The term “Macau Scam” was coined because it is believed that it originated from Macau or that the first victims came from there. This has never been confirmed.
The scam often starts with a phone call from someone pretending to be an officer from a bank, government agency or debt collector.
The scammer will then claim that the potential victim owes money or has an unpaid fine, often with a very short window of less than an hour, to settle the payment or face “dire consequences”.
These unsuspecting victims will then be asked to make payments to get them off the hook.