Technician loses RM470,000 to Macau Scam

SEREMBAN: A technician lost RM470,000 after being deceived by a Macau Scam syndicate member claiming to be a representative from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) Alor Setar branch, on Wednesday.

Negeri Sembilan Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Aibee Abd Ghani said the 57-year-old man claimed to have been contacted by an individual known as David Simon in the 3 pm incident.

He said the victim, from Nilai, was told that his name was blacklisted for failing to pay tax arrears amounting to RM17,600.76, on a company, New West Enterprise, registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) in Alor Setar, Kedah.

"The man then told the complainant that an arrest had been made against a man named Mohd Faisol Ariffin, who was said to have a joint account with the complainant, in the company, but the complainant denied the matter," he said in a statement today.

The complainant then claimed that his call was connected to the Kedah police contingent headquarters (IPK) and he was instructed to provide all bank account information including password and ATM card details and then asked to make several transactions to the account given purportedly for investigation purposes.

He said the complainant only realised that he had been cheated after finding out that there were transactions made and called the bank to block his account and lodged a police report yesterday.

The investigation is being conducted under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years and whipping and shall also be liable to a fine, if convicted.

-- BERNAMA