Man in Kuching loses over half a million Ringgit to elaborate scam

KUCHING (Oct 8): A businessman here allegedly lost over half a million Ringgit from his fixed deposits after falling victim to an elaborate scam earlier this month.

Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the victim had sought his help for this case.

“We suspect a mule account at a local bank was used for the transfer of the fund. We will liaise with the recipient bank and try to trace the money trail to help the recovery,” he said.

Based on the police report lodged by the victim, the ordeal began in mid-September when a woman called him, claiming there was a parcel for him in Perlis.

The caller claimed the parcel contained illegal items and asked the victim to call a number supposedly of the police, after which he was led to another number claiming to be a man called ‘Datuk Loo’.

The victim was then engaged in a number of phone calls and Whatsapp messages to the two suspects, where Datuk Loo asked the victim to transfer a sum of RM564,354 to an account under ‘SAA Cool Empire’.

The victim was told by Datuk Loo the transfer was necessary for the police to investigate the illegal parcel.

On Oct 4, the victim made three withdrawals from his fixed deposit account and his own savings account to transfer the sum into a banking account provided by the scammer.

He only realised he was being scammed after he consulted with his wife on the matter.

Meanwhile, Chong said he and his team would render as much assistance to the victim as possible. He said banks should also be held partially responsible for allowing a mule account to be opened, operated and used for a scam.