A 61-YEAR-OLD government pensioner lost RM127,560 after falling prey to a syndicate posing as a courier company employee and police officers recently. 

Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said based on the police report received yesterday, the suspects, posing as a courier company employee and police officers, contacted the female victim, who hails from Kampung Sungai Tapah Tambahan.

He said investigations found that on September 25, the victim, who was home at the time, received a phone call from an unknown individual who introduced himself as an employee of a courier company and informed her she had a package delivery problem.

He added that the victim was then connected to purportedly Penang police contingent headquarters line by an employee of the courier company and had spoken to an “inspector” and a “sergeant”.

“The suspects tricked her into providing a picture of the front of her bank card to them,” he said in a statement today.

Yusri said the victim only became aware of the suspects’ fraud after her daughter checked her mobile phone.

 He said the victim suffered a total loss of RM127,560 in three transactions to three bank accounts belonging to different individuals from October 9 to 10, with the case now being investigated under section 420 of the penal code.

He also reminded the public to always be alert to suspicious phone calls, especially if they are purportedly from courier companies or government agencies.

The public can call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 if they fall victim to phone scams or cybercrimes and have just made a transaction to a mule account, he said.

Any inquiries can also be forwarded to the CCID Infoline at 013-211 1222 (WhatsApp only, operating hours from 8am to 8pm) while bank accounts and phone numbers that may be involved in fraud cases can be verified via https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my. – Bernama, October 24, 2023.