In a statement, Johor commercial crime investigation department (CCID) chief Amran Md Jusin said the victims were scammed by women posing as Tabung Haji (TH) and police officers.

The housewife received a phone call on Nov 10 from a woman who claimed to be a TH officer. She told her she had an unpaid loan of RM12,900 with the pilgrims’ fund board.

The housewife denied this and was then connected to several other individuals. Finally, a person who called herself “Chief Inspector Yong” persuaded her to open an account in a local bank and register it for online banking services.

The victim was told to transfer all her savings and that of her husband to the newly opened account for “investigation purposes”.

The victim lodged a police report on Dec 20, two days after finding out that all her money had been withdrawn from the new bank account.