Woman Teacher Losess RM23,000 To Phone Scam

KANGAR, June 3 (Bernama) -- A female teacher in Pauh, Arau lost RM23,000 after she was believed to have been duped by a phone scam syndicate from individuals posing as a Touch ‘n Go officer and the authorities on May 29.

Arau district police chief Supt Ahmad Mohsin Md Rodi said the 26-year-old teacher received a phone call from an individual introducing himself as a Touch ‘n Go officer at 12.21 pm while she was at school, informing her that her Touch ‘n Go had been used to steal money from someone else's account.

"Then, the call was supposedly connected to the authorities (namely) from the Penang police contingent headquarters (IPK), who claimed that the teacher was involved in money laundering and drug smuggling crimes.

"The teacher was asked to transfer money to a bank account given by the suspect totalling RM23,000 in a single transaction to avoid having her bank account frozen. The teacher made the money transfer transaction on the same day," he said in a statement today.

Ahmad Mohsin said the teacher only realised she had been scammed after checking the information again and lodged a police report the next day on May 30.

"This case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code and further investigations are being conducted by the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of Perlis IPK. We would like to remind the public not to easily panic if they receive a call claiming they are involved in a crime," he said.

-- BERNAMA