KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — A recent scam going around where a caller pretending to be from a so-called “Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) Crime Investigation Unit” has claimed new victims.
New Straits Times reported that a married couple said they were deceived by someone posing as an Amla officer on the phone and were duped into transferring RM120,000 to the scammer.
Seri Alam district police chief superintendent Mohd Sohaimi Ishak confirmed that a local man had filed a police report, saying he and his wife had been scammed by the fake Amla officer and had carried out 17 cash transactions via cash deposit machines into three different bank accounts last Monday.
The couple had been told the money was for financial audit verification purposes but the caller had blocked their number after receiving the funds. Only then did the couple realise they had been fooled.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for “cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property”.
In Malaysia, there is no Amla enforcement agency. Instead, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has an Anti-Money Laundering Division responsible for conducting investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Act 2001.
The public is advised to exercise caution and to refer to one of the following before believing any call demanding money: National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), the police CCID Facebook page, CCID Infoline or Semak Mule.
