Penang: Two company directors in Penang have lost a combined total of nearly RM900,000 after falling victim to separate phone scam syndicates involving impersonation tactics.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail reported that the first incident involved a 69-year-old woman who was scammed out of RM457,607. The perpetrators posed as officers from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the police. While at her home in Simpang Ampat, she received a call on March 1 from a man who falsely claimed her bank account was linked to a criminal case.

The woman was then put in touch with another suspect impersonating a police officer from Bukit Aman, who accused her of money laundering and drug trafficking. She was told an arrest warrant had been issued in her name and was instructed to cooperate by providing her banking details and withdrawing her savings for 'investigation purposes,' with promises that the money would be returned. On March 11, she handed over RM168,477 in cash to an unknown individual in Taman Tambun Indah, followed by another RM289,130 on March 13 to a different suspect in the same area. When the suspects continued to demand more money, the victim grew suspicious and eventually realized she had been scammed, prompting her to file a police report.

In a separate incident, a 47-year-old male company director was defrauded of RM433,230.91 through a scammer posing as a foreign business associate. The victim received a message on March 24 from an international number, with the sender claiming to be 'Dag Rasmussen,' a supposed major shareholder of a Norwegian company familiar to him. The suspect offered an opportunity to invest in acquiring a company in Hong Kong. Subsequently, the victim was contacted via WhatsApp and email by another individual posing as a London-based lawyer, who provided documents for a supposed confidential agreement. Believing the deal to be legitimate, the victim transferred RM433,230.91 from his company account to a Hong Kong bank account on the same day. His suspicions arose later, and upon conducting checks, he confirmed with the real individual that no such transaction existed.

Both cases are under investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.