Although the number of elderly victims is relatively small compared to other age groups, the financial losses are significant, making them a prime target for scammers, according to the federal commercial crime squad.

Ramli Yoosuf, director of the commercial crime investigation department at Bukit Aman, said elderly people suffered losses of more than RM552 million over the past three years, comprising 20% of the total losses of more than RM2.76 billion.

For this year alone, elderly people lost RM255 million up to August, comprising 27.9% of the total losses amounting to RM914 million.

Ramli said family members should advise their parents, relatives or friends to remain vigilant and to be cautious of suspicious phone calls as well as guard against “believing and following all instructions received over the phone” which could put them at risk of robbery or fraud.

Ramli said a 72-year-old retired woman lost more than RM600,000 after being deceived by a bogus police officer over the phone on Sept 20.

She had received a phone call from a person claiming to be from a customer service unit in Putrajaya, informing her that her phone number had been misused in a cybercrime case. The caller transferred the call to another person impersonating a police officer who informed her that she was also involved in a money laundering case.

“She was directed to consolidate all her savings into a single bank account in her name, and to provide her banking information to the scammer. She was also instructed to hand over all her jewellery and gold bars to an individual who came to collect the items from her home,” Ramli said.

In total, the victim suffered losses amounting to RM671,000. A police report on the case was filed yesterday.