Housewife loses RM20,000 in jewellery over lottery ticket

ALOR GAJAH: A housewife lost her jewellery, worth about RM20,000 after being deceived with a promise of a 10 per cent commission to help a foreigner claim the prize for a winning lottery ticket.

Alor Gajah district police chief Supt Ashari Abu Samah said the incident occurred last Saturday when three men and a woman approached the 58-year-old victim, all believed to be Indonesians aged between 40 and 50, at a supermarket in Masjid Tanah here.

"The four suspects offered her RM50,000 if she could help them claim the prize for the lottery, which they claimed won the first prize of RM500,000 because they had no identity card. The victim agreed and got into a car with the suspects to a lottery shop, about two kilometres from the supermarket.

"In the car, the suspects asked the victim to hand them her jewellery as collateral so that she would not run away after claiming the prize money," he said in a statement today.

Ashari said the victim handed over her necklace with a locket and a bangle, worth RM20,000 and then got down from the car with the alleged winning ticket, while the four suspects waited in the car.

"When entering the shop, the victim turned to look at the suspects but found them and the car no longer there.

"Realising that she had been cheated, the woman then lodged a report at the Kuala Sungai Baru police station at about 2 pm on the day of the incident," he said.

-- BERNAMA