PADAWAN: A housewife charmed by a British man, lost RM10,450 after she was promised a sweet cash package last month.
Padawan OCPD Supt Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the victim in her 50s, had gotten acquainted with the suspect named Aaron Richard through Instagram and WhatsApp.
Investigation found that the suspect had charmed the victim in his way allegedly based on love where, the suspect would send a large cash package to her.
“To get the package, the suspect asked her to pay for the shipment’s release, which were allegedly in the custody of the Customs Department.
“The victim later did as requested and transferred RM10,450 into a Hong Leong Bank account for the release.
“However, the victim realised that she was cheated when the suspect asked for another RM27,500 for the purpose of getting an Anti-Money Laundering Certificate Requirement,” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
In this regard, Abang Zainal urged the community to not be easily charmed by the sweet words of a person who they just met on Instagram and WhatsApp.
“Always be aware of the modus operandi especially when communicating with another person online without meeting in person as we do not know the true identity of the caller, who is supposedly in love and will go so far as to be willing to send a lot of money.
“The community especially women, are also advised to be more careful in choosing contacts.
“Conduct a thorough review before taking actions. Check the account number given by the caller to confirm whether the owner of the account is involved in another criminal case or vice versa,” he said.
Should the public have any information or want to know the status of the investigation and other matters, they can contact the CCID Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559 or CCID Infoline at 013-2111222.
