Civil servant loses RM13,000 to scammers

The Star

a day ago

KOTA KINABALU: A civil servant lost RM13,000 in savings after he was believed to have been scammed by imposters.
The victim, who is in his 30s, was said to have received a call from someone claiming to be an official from the Malaysian Com­munications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and later, a policeman for spreading fake news on investments, job offers and gambling.
Ranau OCPD Supt Mursalin Mahmud said the victim allegedly got the calls on May 27, first from someone claiming to be an MCMC officer.
'The caller claimed that his (victim) phone number was involved in the dissemination of fake messages, and then the call was allegedly reconnected to another individual who claimed to be a policeman from the Perak police headquarters,' he said.
After speaking for quite some time, the man was ordered to transfer RM13,000 to a bank account belonging to one Muhammad Azlan, for 'account protection', he said.
Supt Mursalin said the victim was also instructed to update photos and personal details every three hours to the 'cop' as a way of reporting himself to the police.
'Later, the victim realised that he had been cheated and lodged a report at the Ranau police station on Tuesday night,' he said.
Supt Mursalin said this case is now being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He urged the public to keep calm and think rationally when receiving such calls from unknown persons or numbers to avoid getting scammed.
He also warned against revea­ling any personal, banking or identification information through the phone, and to not carry out any monetary transactions online or via telephone.
'Always call back the police station or agencies allegedly involved on their official land-lines to verify any calls or matters,' said Supt Mursalin.