GEORGE TOWN, Sept 13 — A private company clerk lost RM326,100 in a phone scam after she was duped by a syndicate of being involved in electricity theft recently.

Acting Timur Laut District Police chief Supt V. Saravanan said the 51-year-old woman lodged a report on Monday after realising that she had been scammed.

"The woman said she received a phone call from a suspect (first suspect) claiming to be an officer from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in July, telling her that she was involved in stealing electricity.

"She was then connected to another individual (second suspect) claiming to be from a local authority agency and alleged that the victim was involved in money laundering,” he told a press conference here today.

He said the victim was then connected to a third suspect, who asked her to transfer money into several local bank accounts for investigation purposes and to prevent her from being arrested.

Saravanan said the woman, fearing arrest, transferred a total of RM326,100 from her savings account into six accounts believed to be owned by mules from July to August.

He said the suspects told her that her money would be returned after she presents herself at the George Town court on August 30.

"The victim felt that she had been cheated when the suspects constantly changed the date of her court appearance and she was also told to transfer money from overseas bank accounts if she had any,” he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

He said police are also trying to trace the owners of the accounts used by the syndicate.

Meanwhile, he said 905 phone scam cases, the most in the country, were reported in the district from January until yesterday, adding that total losses suffered by the victims amounted to millions of ringgit. — Bernama