Woman pensioner loses RM280,100 to 'Macau Scam'

KOTA KINABALU: A female pensioner lost RM280,100 of her hard-earned money after transferring it into six dubious bank accounts of a Macau Scam syndicate.

City police chief ACP M. Chandra said the 64-year-old woman was the victim of the syndicate when she received a telephone message that she had purchased a diamond worth RM4,000 with her credit card on June 22.

"Feeling confused as she had never made any purchase or transaction, the victim contacted a telephone number that was given to her by the syndicate and spoke to a 'bank officer' who claimed that her case is currently under 'a court' supervision.

"To solve the problem, the scammer who disguised as a Bank Negara officer, instructed the victim to transfer her monies into an account that was provided by the syndicate.

"Without thinking further, the victim immediately transferred her monies into six different bank accounts within two days," said Chandra in a press conference at the Karamunsing police headquarters yesterday.

He said the case was among 55 cases involving 'Macau Scam' and 'nonexistence loan' with losses amounting to RM1,088,746.78 between January and August this year.

"From the figure, 11 cases involved Macau Scam with losses about RM728,904 while 44 cases involved 'non-existence loans' with losses of around RM359,842.78," said Chandra.

Elaborating further on the 'nonexistence loan' syndicate, Chandra said a 38-year-old woman fell victim after she made several transactions amounting to RM103,000 within a day on September 15.

The syndicate(s) will advertise loans with low interest rate through social media Facebook by only filling up the borrower's detail, name of bank, account number and Employees Provident Fund details for those who had been blacklisted," said Chandra.

He said victims who initially intended to borrow a small amount of money would be tempted when they saw pictures of cheques with a large amount given to borrowers by the syndicate.

"The victim then decided to make a loan of RM1 million and initially transferred RM648 as processing fees, but was then told by the syndicate to make a further transfer which could reach up to RM103,000," he said.

He added that realising she had been cheated, the victim lodged a police report two days later.

According to Chandra, as a result of the 55 cases the police had detained six individuals between 2016 and this year.

Three of the suspects had also been charged in court, he said.