KOTA BHARU, Sept 20 — A 75-year-old retired teacher in Bachok lost about RM15,000 after being duped by a scam syndicate posing as police officers, which also resulted in the victim handing over two ATM cards and his wife’s gold necklace with a pendant.
Kelantan Police Chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said that the police arrested a 31-year-old woman on September 13 around Kota Bharu to assist with the investigation of the case.
He said the incident began on September 12 when the victim received a phone call from an individual claiming to be a police officer from the Johor Contingent Police Headquarters (IPK).
“The victim was informed that he had a court summons amounting to RM25,000 and was accused of being involved in money laundering and a drug syndicate, which carries a 15-year prison sentence.
“The call was then transferred to another individual claiming to be a senior Bukit Aman police officer via WhatsApp,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Yusoff said the victim was then instructed to keep the matter secret from anyone before being asked to surrender two ATM cards and his wife’s gold necklace with a pendant, purportedly to be handed over to an investigating officer who would come to his house.
He mentioned that at about 5:00 pm on the same day, a woman arrived in a car at the victim’s house, collected the items, and left.
“The gold necklace was subsequently sold at a gold shop in Kota Bharu on the same day, while a portion of the proceeds from the sale was deposited into a third-party account.
“Based on preliminary statements, the suspect received instructions via WhatsApp from an unidentified individual to collect the victim’s items,” he said.
However, he noted that the victim managed to contact the bank to block the ATM cards, and no transactions were detected.
According to him, the police seized the victim’s two ATM cards, a Perodua Axia car, a bank-in receipt, and a gold shop receipt, while the gold necklace was successfully recovered from the respective gold shop.
“The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” he said.
Mohd Yusoff advised the public not to panic or be deceived by threats of summonses and arrests, reminding them that the police, courts, Bank Negara Malaysia, and banking institutions will never contact members of the public to ask them to surrender ATM cards, PIN numbers, or jewellery to any party. — Bernama