RM150,000 lost to ‘angpow’ scammer
JOHOR BARU: A woman who went shopping in a supermarket here ended up losing her life savings of about RM150,000 in a scratch and win scam.
The 70-something woman was walking around when she encountered a man who told her that angpows were being given out to shoppers.
It is learnt that the man asked her to pick one of the red packets.
He then informed her that she had won several hundred ringgit in cash and reward points.
The woman was elated to hear the news. However, the culprit dangled another carrot.
He told her that she would be able to double the amount if she bought more items at the supermarket.
The woman then went to a nearby bank and emptied her savings totalling more than RM150,000 to go on a shopping spree.
She then came back to see the man, who was waiting near the supermarket.
Sources said the suspect took the cash and told her to wait while he went to a moneychanger to change the notes into smaller denominations for her to make her purchases.After waiting a while, the woman decided to search for the man at the moneychanger.
To her shock, no one was there. The woman then lodged a police report.
In another scam, a woman in her late 60s lost almost RM900,000 after she tried to purchase a house in Skudai earlier this year.
It is learnt that the Singaporean wanted to own a home in Johor Baru and issued several cheques to a real estate company to purchase the home, which was mortgaged to a bank.
A few months ago, she discovered that the real estate company had been declared bankrupt and had failed to settle the debts with the bank.
The bank has since seized the house and put it up for auction.The woman lodged a police report after many attempts to recover the money failed.
A police official confirmed the cases and said investigations were underway under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. Those with information about these cases are urged to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999.
Source: TheStar
