IPOH, June 20 — Manjung district police recorded a total of 52 cases of phone scams as of June 19 this year, involving losses worth RM2.1 million.
Manjung District Police chief ACP Mohamed Nordin Abdullah said the latest report received was from a senior citizen involving a loss of RM202,787 yesterday.
“The 65-year-old woman is a retired electronics factory operator who was contacted by an individual who introduced himself as a police officer.
“The victim was then informed that she was allegedly involved in a criminal case that required an investigation into her account leading the victim to hand over her account information to the unknown individual,” he said in a statement today.
Mohamed Nordin reminded the public not to respond to any calls asking for personal information, especially personal accounts.
“Among the steps that can be taken by the public to avoid becoming a victim of fraud is to call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) on the ‘997’ hotline that was set up last October to curb and combat cyber fraud activities.
“The police advise the public not to easily believe and follow the instructions given by unknown individuals, especially those whom they have never met face to face,” he said.
He said the modus operandi of the phone scam was to impersonate personnel from law enforcement agencies, the police force, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), courts, financial institutions and delivery service companies.
“Logically, any dealings with government agencies are only done in the office and not over the phone, and if there is any (dealing on the phone), probably only for appointment setting purposes.
“As a precautionary measure the public is advised not to respond to unknown calls, inform your spouse or family member about the call, check with the nearest financial institution and police station and do not disclose personal banking information to any party,” he said. — Bernama
