Kuala terengganu: A 73-year-old retiree lost RM431,742 after falling victim to a phone scam syndicate. Kuala Terengganu police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor stated that the victim received a call on June 24 from a suspect claiming to be an insurance company representative. The suspect alleged that the victim was involved in making a false health insurance claim and would face legal action.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the visually impaired victim denied the accusation, after which the call was transferred to another suspect posing as a police officer. This second suspect accused the victim of being involved in money laundering activities and instructed him to open a new bank account for investigation purposes, advising him not to use the account.

Azli detailed that, fearing imprisonment, the victim transferred all the money from his and his wife's savings accounts into the newly opened account. The scam was only uncovered on September 25 when the victim mentioned the situation to his son, who checked and found that RM431,742 had been transferred in stages from July 6 to August 14 to an unidentified account.

Having lost all his savings, the retiree lodged a police report. The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.