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HL: Chinese PhD student loses RM847k in phone scam
By AUDREY DERMAWAN
GEORGE TOWN: A Chinese PhD student lost RM847,843.62 in a phone scam that involved a man claiming to be a Shanghai police officer.
The 29-year-old victim, who has been residing in Malaysia for his studies, reported the case to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the northeast district police headquarters on Thursday.
Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the scam began on Aug 4 when the victim received a phone call at about 10.30am from a man claiming to be an officer from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
According to the victim’s statement, the caller told him a package containing his personal identification card, credit cards, and cheque book had been sent from Malaysia to China and was detained by Shanghai police.
The caller then transferred the victim to a second man who identified himself as a public security officer from Hong An, China.
“The second suspect alleged that the victim’s bank account was involved in an online fraud investigation in China and requested that the victim transfer money to various accounts as part of the investigation,” Azizee said.
He said between Aug 6 and 26, the victim made 30 separate transactions to 11 local bank accounts and three cryptocurrency accounts, transferring the total sum of RM847,843.62.
“The victim only realised he had been scammed after discussing the matter with a classmate and lodged a police report,” Azizee said in a statement.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Police have urged the public to be vigilant about unsolicited phone calls, especially those that ask for sensitive personal or banking details. They also warned that scammers often pose as officials from law enforcement agencies or financial institutions.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
