Pharmacist in Kapit loses RM260k in savings to phone scam

Dato Mancha Ata

KAPIT, Jan 30: A female pharmacist here lost RM260,000 worth of savings after falling victim to a phone scam.

Sarawak Commissioner of Police Dato Mancha Ata said the victim, who is in her 30s, lodged a police report regarding the crime, yesterday (Jan 29).

According to the victim, she received a call from an individual who claimed that he was from the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) on Nov 6, 2023.

The suspect allegedly told her that her phone number was involved in a money laundering case and she was asked to come to Perak Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) to lodge a police report.

As she was unable to fly down to Perak, she had to deal with several other police officers on the phone to an extent that she was told that her identification card (IC) and bank account numbers were used by a criminal that has been detained.

“From early November 2023 to December 2023, the victim made 12 bank transactions totalling about RM260,000 to seven bank accounts.

“Only after the victim made the transactions that she realised that she has been cheated,” Mancha said in a statement today.

Following this, he advised members of the public to not entertain any unknown calls, not panic when thrown with sudden accusations from suspicious callers, and not share any banking information to unknown individuals.

Those who believe that they have fallen victim to an online scam or made bank transaction to the suspect’s bank account, can contact NSRC at 997.

The public are also advised to download Whoscall app on Google Play Store or Apple Store to identify whether the unknown numbers are listed as scammers under the police’s data system. — DayakDaily