A deeply distressing incident has shaken up Saratok involving a young female teacher who fell prey to a scam, causing her to lose a significant sum of money. Dato Mancha Ata, the Sarawak Commissioner of Police, shed light on the unfortunate event. 

It began on December 4th when the teacher, in her early 30s, encountered a deceptive scheme that led her to toss away RM29,000 cash into the bushes near the P-turn along a road in Saratok. However, upon her return to retrieve the money, it had mysteriously vanished.

The Commissioner highlighted how disheartening the situation was for the victim, as she realized she had been tricked once she found the cash missing. Subsequent investigations unearthed a much larger loss. It turns out that the teacher had been tricked into making a total of 19 separate fund transfers to seven different 'scammer' bank accounts, leading to a staggering loss of RM125,000. These transactions took place between mid-October and mid-November 2023.

The fraudulent plot unfolded when the victim received a call on October 19th from an individual pretending to be an officer from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The imposter, claiming to be "Maisarah from MCMC," alerted the victim to complaints alleging the unauthorized use of her phone number for false advertising in Seremban. As the conversation continued, the victim was connected to multiple individuals who persuaded her to make fund transfers to a bank account they provided, supposedly as part of an investigation by Bank Negara.

Realizing she had fallen victim to a scam, the teacher took action and reported the incident to the police on December 5th. 

Source: TVS