Two company directors in Penang were defrauded of nearly RM900,000 in sophisticated phone scams involving impersonation of officials and fake business deals.
GEORGE TOWN: Two company directors in Penang have lost a combined total of nearly RM900,000 after falling victim to separate phone scam syndicates.
Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the first case involved a 69-year-old woman who lost RM457,607.
She was deceived by individuals posing as officers from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the police.
The victim, at her home in Simpang Ampat, received a call on March 1 from a man claiming her bank account was linked to a criminal case.
She was later connected to another suspect impersonating a police officer from Bukit Aman.
He accused her of involvement in money laundering and drug trafficking.
She was told an arrest warrant had been issued in her name.
She was instructed to cooperate by providing her banking details and withdrawing her savings for “investigation purposes,” with assurances the money would be returned.
On March 11, she handed over RM168,477 in cash to an unknown individual in Taman Tambun Indah.
She gave another RM289,130 on March 13 to a different suspect in the same area.
“The suspects continued to demand more money, which raised the victim’s suspicions,” Azizee said.
She later realised she had been scammed and lodged a police report.
In a separate case, a 47-year-old male company director lost RM433,230.91.
He was duped by a scammer posing as a foreign business associate.
The victim received a message on March 24 from an international number claiming to be “Dag Rasmussen”.
The suspect was allegedly a major shareholder of a Norwegian company known to him.
He offered the victim an opportunity to invest in the acquisition of a company in Hong Kong.
The victim was then contacted via WhatsApp and email by another individual posing as a London-based lawyer.
This suspect provided documents for a supposed confidential agreement.
Believing the deal to be genuine, the victim transferred RM433,230.91 from his company account to a Hong Kong bank account on the same day.
He later became suspicious after conducting checks.
He confirmed with the real individual that no such transaction existed.
Both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
