Melaka commercial crime investigation department chief E Sundra Rajan said the victims were a 60-year-old housewife from Alor Gajah, who lost RM247,642, and a 21-year-old institution of higher learning student who lost RM12,000.
He said the two victims reported they had been cheated at the Simpang Ampat and Batu Berendam police stations respectively on April 8.
“Both victims claimed they received a call from a man who said he was a health ministry officer, who told them their personal details had been used in the Covid-19 registration for vaccination.
“The victims were then instructed to cooperate with the suspect to investigate the matter.
“They were then connected to the ‘police’ via a call for further verification and were shocked when informed that their personal details had also been used in a money laundering case,” he said in a statement here today.
Sundra Rajan said both victims were threatened that action would be taken against them if they failed to give their cooperation.
The syndicate members then ordered the victims to provide all information pertaining to their bank accounts for “auditing” purposes.
After the victims had given their bank account and pin numbers, as well as their online banking access details, they found that money from their accounts had been transferred out.
He said the two cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Sundra Rajan said Melaka police had received 93 reports related to such Macau scam syndicates, involving losses of RM3.12 million, from Jan 1 till yesterday.
Negeri Sembilan teacher loses RM250,000
Meanwhile, a teacher near Seremban lost more than RM250,000 over a period since June last year after being duped by an “insurance agent” and “police officer” in a Macau scam.
Negeri Sembilan commercial crime investigation department chief Aibee Ab Ghani said the 43-year-old woman claimed she had received a call from an insurance agent regarding a claim but she denied any knowledge about it.
Following that, the victim received a call from a “policeman”, identified as “Sergeant Rizal”, who said she was implicated in a money laundering case involving the Sabah Water Department.
The next day, the victim received a call asking her to transfer money to his bank account to settle the case. She was also asked to provide a bank account that was rarely used and the woman gave details of her Bank Rakyat account for that purpose.
“The victim dealt with them for almost five months from June last year. From Oct 29, 2021 to March 26 this year, the victim had made nine transactions to the Bank Rakyat account totalling RM265,225.50,” he said in a statement today.
Aibee said from the amount, a total of RM200,000 was obtained by the victim through a loan while the balance was from her savings.
He said the victim became suspicious after checking her Bank Rakyat account and finding that the balance in her account was only RM78.