JOHOR BARU: A married couple lost RM120,000 after claiming they were deceived by a call from an individual posing as an Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) enforcement officer or police.
Seri Alam district police chief Superintendent Mohd Sohaimi Ishak, said the report was made by a local man aged 56 yesterday.
"The victim claims that he and his wife were scammed by an individual pretending to be an AMLA enforcement officer or police.
"Their bank account was reportedly involved in a scam, leading the victims, who believed the claim, to carry out 17 payment transactions via cash deposit machines into three different bank accounts last Monday.
"The total amount transferred was RM120,000," he said in a statement today, adding that the victims were told that the payments were for financial audit verification purposes.
Sohaimi said however, once all transactions were completed, the phone number was blocked.
He added that both victims, who are unemployed, later realised they had been scammed before reporting the matter to the police.
"The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud. The investigation will also cover the involvement of account mules if any, and action will be taken against the account holders involved."
He advised the public to be more cautious and not to easily trust any offers, including investment opportunities that promise quick, easy, and high returns.
He also advised using online services provided by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), such as the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), CCID Infoline, Semak Mule, and the police's CCID Facebook page to obtain information related to commercial crime before making any payment transactions to other parties.