10-07-2025
Marine biologist loses RM500,000 in phone scam
IPOH: A marine biology officer thought he was helping the police solve a crime, but instead, he ended up losing RM500,000 to scammers pretending to be law enforcement.
Perak police chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the 44-year-old victim was scammed by a fraudster impersonating a police officer, who claimed to be resolving a non-existent criminal case.
"Initial investigations revealed that on May 14, the man received a phone call from an unknown number informing him that he was involved in money forgery and money laundering.
"The following day, the victim was contacted by the suspect, who claimed to be a policeman from the Pahang Contingent Police Headquarters, and was shown all of the victim's personal documents," he said in a statement today.
He added that, trusting the scammers, the victim was connected to an alleged investigator based at Bukit Aman and proceeded to transfer money through online banking and ATM transactions into nine
different accounts, totaling RM500,000.
"The source of the funds was the complainant's own savings as well as money from his family members," he said, adding that the man lodged a police report here yesterday.
He advised the public not to easily trust calls from unknown numbers claiming to be from the police, Inland Revenue Board, banks, courts, courier services, or similar entities accusing them of crimes, debts, or suspicious packages.
"They may ask you to transfer money to a 'safe' account or request banking information or an OTP code.
"You are advised not to panic, not to share personal information, to end the call, and to verify with official authorities," he said.
