ISKANDAR Puteri police chief Rahmat Ariffin reported that a woman lost over half a million ringgit after being deceived by a scammer impersonating her brother on social media.

The 31-year-old local woman, serving as a company manager, filed a police report on the scam in Johor Baru.

The scammer, posing as the victim’s 29-year-old younger brother, sent a WhatsApp message instructing her to transfer RM570,174 for purported business purposes.

“The phone number was (in fact) not the same as her brother’s number. But not suspecting anything amiss, the victim transferred the amount to the account given by the scammer,” he said today.

He said the victim’s younger brother also later denied asking for the money.

Rahmat said following that, the Commercial CID of the Iskandar Puteri police headquarters opened an investigation paper following section 420 of the Penal Code.

He advised the public not to easily believe any message or phone call from an unknown number and to check first. – Bernama, January 20, 2024.