Seremban: A former Chinese businessman lost RM4.2 million after falling victim to a Macau scam syndicate that posed as police officers. Seremban Police Chief ACP Mohamad Hatta Che Din said the police received a report from the 62-year-old man, who informed them he was duped by the syndicate last Thursday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the elderly man claimed to have received several messages via WhatsApp from an unknown number, introducing himself as ‘Sergeant Michael’ on December 21 last year, and informing the victim that he was involved in a money laundering case. The victim then made an online transfer to a company account and deposited two cheques into two different company accounts as instructed by Sgt Michael. He also requested the bank to transfer money from his personal account to a company account provided to him, with all transactions claimed to be for investigation purposes.

Mohamad Hatta said the man only realised he had been deceived after being informed by the bank, before his bank account was blocked. He noted that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, he revealed that from January to December last year, the police opened 105 investigation papers related to the phone scam (Macau scam) modus operandi, involving losses of RM1.89 million, compared to 84 investigation papers with losses of RM930,931.18 in 2023.

As a preventive measure, he advised the public to be cautious when receiving calls from individuals claiming to represent any agency and requesting payments for any purpose. He also urged the public not to provide their cards, accounts, or banking information to others to avoid their bank accounts being manipulated by scam syndicates and being used as mule accounts.