KUALA LUMPUR: What started as a casual day at work 10 years ago ended on a sour note for a mechanic who lost RM10,000 in a phone scam.
The man in his 40s, who wanted to be known only as Johnson, said he remembered how he had been cheated.
“I received a call from a man claiming to be from a bank’s credit card centre. He told me that RM4,000 was charged to my card,” he told the New Straits Times.
“They asked me to verify the payment and I was in shock because I had not applied for a card with that bank.
“When I told them that, the caller told me not to panic and proceeded to transfer my call to a ‘policeman’.”
He said the caller told him that such incidents often happen and he would be provided with a bank account to transfer his funds.
“This way, my funds would remain safe should the bank freeze my account if identity theft was involved.
“I did not think anything of it and immediately transferred my money to the account provided. It was about RM10,000.
“The caller told me they would contact me again for an update, but I did not hear from him again.”
When he realised something was amiss, he lodged a report.
Human resources manager Rachel, 39, said her ordeal happened seven years ago.
“Back then, I did not even know what a Macau scam or phone scam was. I received a call from a man claiming that my car was involved in a drug trafficking case.
“They even told me that my MyKad was found at the scene. I freaked out because I had actually lost it at that time.”
She told the caller that her car had been sold, but he insisted on transferring the call to a man whom he claimed was a police personnel.
She said the second man on the line sounded aggressive, and he shouted and threatened to arrest her at her workplace or home unless she paid a certain sum to settle the case.
“I started to panic. I did not want anything to affect my family or my job.
“I told the man that I did not have a lot of money and the man recited my bank account number and the exact balance in the account, as well as my personal details.”
She added that the man accused her of lying and became even more aggressive.
Out of fear and believing that the man on the other end was a policeman, she transferred RM2,000 to the account given to her.
“It was only after I spoke to my boyfriend that I realised I had been scammed.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
