Johor police chief M Kumar said the 70-year-old woman received a phone call from someone introducing himself as an officer at the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC). The caller claimed the woman had a criminal record for fraud.

Kumar said the victim was then contacted by another person posing as a police officer from a northern state to inform her that a bank account had been opened in her name in the state, which she denied.

“However, the suspect convinced the victim to provide details of all the accounts she owned for ‘investigation purposes’.

“She followed the suspect’s instructions and left an ATM card for one of her bank accounts and its pin number at a given location.

“The victim was then ordered to transfer money from several of her other savings accounts to the bank account linked to the ATM card, amounting to almost RM600,000,” Kumar said in a statement today.

He said the victim checked with the bank recently and found RM584,000 missing. Someone had used her card to withdraw money and also do a money transfer to an unknown person.

“Suspecting she had been cheated, the victim made a police report on June 17,” he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

Kumar reminded the public that the NSRC would only receive calls from the public.

“If you suspect you have been scammed, immediately contact the NSRC on 997 so that the chances of blocking money that has been transferred are higher.

“In addition, also get the latest information on commercial crime modus operandi through the commercial crime investigation department’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages,” he added.