SIBU: A local university student has suffered a loss of RM9,290 after falling victim to a phone scam orchestrated by a syndicate posing as both a delivery company and the police.
Sibu District Police Chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili said that the incident started when the victim, who is in twenties, received a call on August 6 from someone claiming to be from a delivery company.
The caller told the victim that a package with their name on it had been seized because it contained illegal items. The victim was then transferred to another person on the phone who posed as a police officer.
According to Zulkipli, this fake police officer pressured the victim into giving personal information by lying that it was needed for verification. The scammer then lied again, saying that the victim was involved in money laundering.
“The victim got really worried and did everything the scammer told them to do,” said Zulkipli in a statement yesterday (Aug 12).
Over the next few days, from August 6 to 10, the victim followed the scammer’s instructions and transferred money four times totalling RM9,290.
The money was sent to three suspicious bank accounts, he said.
The victim started having doubts when the scammer asked them to check in on WhatsApp every 4 hours.
After doing this, the victim realised their phone access had been blocked.
Feeling suspicious and worried, the victim went to a nearby police station to report what happened.
Zulkipli advised everyone not to get scared if they get calls from unknown people who say they’re from the government, agencies, or banks.
He also suggested that people should stay informed and learn about scams from the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC). People can also follow the Facebook pages of @CyberCrimeAlertRMP and @JSJKPDRM.
To avoid falling for scams, the public should double-check any strange bank accounts or phone numbers using the Semak Mule website at http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/.
