Miri Man Loses Over RM253,000 After Falling Victim To Fraud

KUCHING, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- A man in his early 60s in Miri suffered losses amounting to more than RM253,000 after falling victim to a scam involving an individual who posed as a family member of an acquaintance to borrow money.

Miri police chief ACP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said that based on a police report lodged by the victim yesterday, the incident began around December last year when the victim was contacted via telephone number 012-9324379 by an individual claiming to be a family member of the victim’s acquaintance.

He said the suspect claimed the need to borrow money because payment for a project could not be released and had been blocked, and also claimed to need to make a payment to a bank in Singapore.

“To convince the victim, the suspect also presented documents related to a project that purportedly existed, and promised that the victim would receive a payment exceeding the amount borrowed once the project payment was received.

“Deceived by the ruse, the victim made 41 money transfer transactions to four different bank accounts,” he said in a statement here today.

Mohd Farhan said the victim only realised he had been cheated after informing his family members about the matter, before coming forward to lodge a police report.

He said the case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

-- BERNAMA