KUANTAN, March 25 — A teacher has become the latest victim of the Macau Scam after she lost her savings of RM277,000 through several phone calls beginning March 18.

Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the 55-year-old woman was initially contacted by an individual, claiming to be from an insurance company, who informed the victim that she had made claims totalling RM68,800 in three withdrawals.

However, Mohd Wazir said after the victim denied making the claims, she was connected to another individual who claimed to be a police officer. The bogus officer told her that she was involved in money laundering and an arrest warrant had been issued against her.

"The victim was subsequently contacted on Monday by a woman who claimed to be a deputy public prosecutor. The latter told the victim to replace her ATM card and pin number by using the front numbers of her identity card in addition to using the given telephone number.

"The next day, the victim received a telephone call from yet another individual claiming to be a police officer, asking her to consolidate all her savings into one bank account (of the victim), as this would be confirmation that all her money was not from money laundering,” he said in a statement today.

He said the victim followed the instructions and deposited all her money into one account, amounting to over RM277,000. However, upon checking on Wednesday, she discovered a balance of only RM128.13 remained.

The victim’s calls to the suspect went unanswered. The woman then realised that she had been duped and lodged a police report at the Raub district police headquarters yesterday.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years and whipping and can be fined upon conviction. — Bernama