Petaling Jaya district police chief Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said the victim, a 50-year-old woman, had been told she had been involved in a fatal hit-and-run case, and that she had a previous criminal record involving money laundering.

A woman posing as a police officer had informed her of this in a phone call. The victim later received a WhatsApp message regarding an arrest warrant against her.

She was then asked to cooperate by transferring money in her bank account to a new account for the purpose of a Bank Negara investigation.

“The victim withdrew all the proceeds from the sale of shares in Singapore, personal loans, savings, fixed deposit and the sale of insurance policies into the new account, as directed by the suspect,” he said in a statement today.

Nik Ezanee said the victim was instructed not to check with the bank from May to September on the pretext of launching an investigation.

Nik Ezanee said she subsequently checked her account and found that RM1,979,976 had been withdrawn in stages.

Earlier this week, a Kajang teacher lost about RM1.13 million after she was duped into believing that her vehicle was involved in a fatal accident and that she was engaged in money laundering activities.