Septuagenarian loses RM120,000 in lottery ticket scam

A septuagenarian was tricked into parting with RM120,000 to two men who had asked for his help to claim a non-existent lottery ticket prize, with a promise of part of the so-called winnings.

The incident occurred between 10am and noon last Thursday at a building in Jalan Timah Sari, Batu Pahat near here when the 70-year-old victim was approached by an Indonesian man.

Batu Pahat police chief, ACP Abdul Wahid Musa said one of the suspects had earlier hoodwinked the victim into believing he was unable to claim a lottery cash prize he had won as he did not have valid identification documents.

In a statement here today, he said the victim was also shown a fake 'winning' ticket, during which time, a local man turned up to convince the septuagenarian that the Indonesian had indeed, the 'winning' ticket.

At that juncture, the victim agreed to assist the man to withdraw the money when promised a reward of five percent of the total money won - even when told he (victim) had to pay an advance sum of money for that purpose.

Abdul Wahid said when 'claiming' the money at the lottery premises, only the victim was left in a car while one of the two men entered the premises, purportedly to collect a cheque.

The victim was asked to make a copy of his identity card (IC) before being taken to a bank in Jalan Rahmat to withdraw RM120,000.

Subsequently, the septuagenarian was again asked to make a copy of the IC and during that time, the two men disappeared with the RM120,000 in a Kia Sportage. -- BERNAMA