A Macau scam syndicate's "successful" run of conning retirees of their lifetime savings has come to an end with the arrest of its members.

The syndicate had conned two 90-year-olds of over RM7 million, using the same modus operandi, in the last few months, and it is also believed to be involved in a string of other scam cases in Petaling Jaya.

In the most recent case, a female victim was cheated after she received a call, allegedly from a Pos Laju employee, saying that a parcel for her had sent from Ipoh to Sabah, using her identity.

Her call was then transferred to two men who claimed to be policemen, who alleged that her identity had been used for illegal activities, and that she had to transfer some money into given account numbers while an investigation was being carried out.

The unsuspecting victim ended up transfering her savings of RM3.83 million in batches to seven different companies between April 20 and June 15, and lodged a police report on June 28 after realising she had been conned.

Petaling Jaya district police chief ACP Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said the same syndicate had conned a 90-year-old male retiree of a similar amount of money, back in June, using the same modus operandi.

Police managed to arrest two men who were part of the syndicate, aged 36 and 43, at a restaurant in Shah Alam, last Thursday. Besides the two men, nine other arrests were also made.

Nik Ezanee said the syndicate members who preyed on the elderly who were less exposed to information on cybercrime, could be jailed between one and 10 years, and whipped and fined, upon conviction.

It has been previously reported that Malaysians have lost more than RM769 million to Macau scam syndicates between 2017 and 2019.


Photo source: Astro Awani