Pharmacist left RM260,000 poorer in phone scam

KAPIT: A pharmacist lost RM260,000 after she was misled into believing that she was involved in money laundering.

The incident took place on Nov 6 last year when the woman, in her early 30s, received a call from a man claiming to be from the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC).

Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata said that the suspect alleged that her phone number was implicated in a money laundering case and instructed her to file a police report at Perak Contingent police headquarters (IPK).

Unable to travel to Perak, the call was then directed to one Sgt Ismail from Perak IPK, who informed her that her ATM card was in the possession of a suspect named Chan Boon Siew, who was recently arrested by police.

“Subsequently, Insp Mokhtar took over the call and advised the victim to transfer all her money to bank accounts allegedly provided by Mokhtar to safeguard her assets from Chan’s purported syndicate.

“Between early November to early December, the victim, trusting the false claims, transferred a total of RM260,000 via 12 transactions into seven different bank accounts.

“It was only upon completing the transactions that she realised the deception and reported the incident to the police on Jan 29,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property.

Mancha urged the public to exercise caution and refrain from responding to unknown phone calls.

Additionally, the public is advised not to succumb to panic or fear in the face of unfounded allegations, and not to disclose banking information to unknown parties.