Kuching: A 41-year-old woman lost RM56,000 after falling victim to a phone scam involving individuals impersonating an insurance company officer and a policeman.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Kuching district police chief ACP Alexson Naga Chabu stated that the incident occurred on September 4 while the victim was at work. The woman received a call from someone introducing himself as Faizal Madnoor, who claimed to be an officer from Etiqa Insurance.

The suspect told the victim that her personal information had been used to make a fake insurance claim of RM68,000 at the KPJ Damansara Hospital, Petaling Jaya, from June 10 to 16. When the victim denied any knowledge of the claim, the call was supposedly transferred to another individual. This person introduced himself as Sjn. Mohd Remi from the Bukit Aman police station, stating that the case was under investigation by Insp. Mohd Khairul for money laundering.

The victim was instructed to perform several transactions to resolve the case, resulting in her transferring RM56,000 into four different bank accounts. She realized the scam only after informing her husband about the incident.

ACP Alexson further noted that from January 1 to November 10 this year, a total of 91 investigation papers have been opened involving the same modus operandi, with total losses amounting to RM4,665,375.50.