Retired teacher, senior citizen lose RM352,000 to scams

New Straits Times

21-06-2025

JOHOR BARU: Police are investigating two commercial crime crises that cost a retired teacher and a senior citizen more than RM352,000 in total losses.
Johor Baru South police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the first case involved a 60-year-old retired teacher who lost RM243,975 in an investment scam advertised on social media.
Lured by a promised 560 per cent return within three months, the victim joined a WhatsApp group and was instructed to download an application purportedly linked to the investment.
Between April 28 and June 19, the victim made seven online and over-the-counter bank transfers totalling RM255,100 into two bank accounts.
She received RM11,125 in returns, resulting in a net loss of nearly a quarter million ringgit.
"Checks revealed 17 prior fraud reports linked to the bank accounts used," Raub said in a statement today.
In the second case, a senior citizen lost RM108,959 after he received a phone call from a man claiming to be a bank officer.
The caller claimed the victim's credit card had been misused on an e-commerce online platform and convinced him to perform several "verification" transactions, which included transferring RM8,989 from his wife's credit card to the suspect's TNG eWallet.
He was also instructed to transfer RM99,970 via DuitNow from his bank account.
Raub said the suspect became unreachable once the transactions were completed. Checks showed the phone number had been linked to two similar fraud cases.
He urged the public to be wary of investment offers on digital platforms and not to trust promises of unrealistic returns.
He also advised verifying suspicious calls through official bank channels and reporting scams immediately to the National Scam Response Centre at 997, which can help block suspect accounts and stop fund transfers.