PORT DICKSON: A 46-year-old administrative assistant lost more than RM38,000 after being duped by an individual claiming to be an employee of a courier company and a bogus cop in a phone scam.

       Port Dickson OCPD Supt Aidi Sham Mohamed said the victim had received a call from the first suspect on May 15, who told her that she had a parcel containing a prohibited item at his office.

       "The victim denied she was expecting any parcel and that her personal details might have been misused.

       "The suspect then transferred the call to one 'ASP Wong' who claimed to be from the Kedah police contingent," he said in a statement.

       The "cop" then accused the victim of being involved in money laundering and drug trafficking activities and asked for her personal banking details to allow the police to probe her.

       This startled the victim who immediately gave ASP Wong details of her four bank accounts.

       "She also gave the suspect the Transaction Authorisation Code (TAC), which allows money to be transferred to another account," he said.

       Supt Aidi Sham said the victim became suspicious when ASP Wong told her to transfer her savings to an unidentified account and upon checking, she discovered that RM38,400 had already been withdrawn from her four accounts.

       She then lodged a police report.

       The case is being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides a jail term of between one and 10 years, fine and whipping upon conviction.

       Supt Aidi Sham advised the public not to divulge their banking details to strangers to prevent them from being scammed.

       He said the public can always verify information with the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-2610 1559/1599, send a WhatsApp message to the CCID infoline at 013-211 1222 or at semakmule.rmp.gov.my.