Women lose RM45,000 in credit card scam

KUANTAN: Some people, it appears, are as gullible as can be.

A syndicate has managed to cheat several women of RM45,000 by claiming they had outstanding credit card debts. And this is despite the fact that some of them did not even have credit cards.

Claiming to be bank officers, syndicate members would call their victims to inform them that they had outstanding credit card debts and warn them of impending legal action.

If the victims claimed that they did not have a credit card, the syndicate members would provide a telephone number which they claimed belonged to Bank Negara Malaysia and insist the women call and speak to "Michael" or "Miss Wong", who would be able to give them further assistance. Upon contacting the number, the victims would then be required to provide their account details, personal identification number (PIN) and also credit card number.

They were then assured that the matter would be solved in three days. The victims would only realise they were cheated later when they discovered up to RM10,000 missing from their savings accounts.

State Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Zaini Jass said five women had lodged reports between June 17 and 19. He said the first victim was a nurse from Temerloh who was cheated of RM5,000, followed by a clerk from Kuantan who was duped of RM10,000.

The others were an accountant, a pensioner and a casino staff from here who lost a total of RM30,000. "Based on the reports, the syndicate had deployed the same modus operandi on all the five women, aged between 26 and 56," said Zaini.

Investigations showed that the Kuala Lumpur-based "Bank Negara Malaysia" number provided by the syndicate members was no longer in service.

NST-Credit Card Scam