A company manager in Malaysia lost over MYR1.2 million (SG$382,000) to what is locally known as a “Macau scam”.
The victim, a 46-year-old woman from Kulim, received a telephone call in October last year from someone who introduced themselves as Sabrina from Etiqa Insurance, Malay Mail reported. The fraudster asked the victim to pay premiums for an insurance policy worth MYR70,000.
According to Superintendent Elias Omar of the Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department, the victim denied they had purchased an insurance policy and was put in touch with three individuals – Sergeant Adam, Inspector Mazlan and Inspector Yong – who claimed to be from Pudu Police Station.
The so-called policemen said that there was an outstanding warrant of arrest for the victim for money laundering and murder. Another individual, a certain “Deputy Public Prosecutor Puan Mastura” contacted the victim and said the warrant was suspended but she needed to cooperate with the police and disclose certain information.
The victim admitted to disclosing her bank account and credit card information, and later learned that she had been scammed when more than MYR1.2 million disappeared from her bank accounts.
The police advised the public to be suspicious about calls from individuals claiming to be from government agencies or financial institutions and take appropriate action to verify their authenticity first.
