Ipoh: An elderly man lost RM158,000 after being duped by a phone scam syndicate. Ipoh police chief ACP Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the 73-year-old victim claimed to have received a call from an insurance company to inform him that he had arrears, after which the call was transferred to a man claiming to be a police officer from the Petaling Jaya District Police Headquarters.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the victim was told that he was involved in money laundering involving more than RM2 million, and an arrest warrant had been issued. The victim, who was in a state of panic, was threatened and instructed to make various transactions to several bank accounts supposedly to facilitate investigations.

Abang Zainal Abidin stated that the victim had made 12 transactions into 12 different bank accounts that were given to him. The victim finally realized that he had been cheated and lodged a police report yesterday, he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.