Police have urged members of the public who withdraw their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings under the special RM10,000 withdrawal facility to be wary of Macau scams. 

According to the commercial crime chief of Melaka, Supt E. Sundra Rajan, the police force has not received any reports of such scams related to the latest EPF special withdrawal yet, but are taking precautionary measures to warn the public. “The scammers often look for victims who have money, and we have warned EPF members to be on the lookout for such scams,” he added. 

On the tactics typically employed by these scammers, Supt Sundra stated that they will often disguise themselves as enforcement officers to intimidate victims. The scammers will also threaten victims to transfer funds into their accounts or face “dire consequences”, such as being arrested. To illustrate, Supt Sundra cited a recent case of a woman in Alor Gajah who lost her gratuity money to scammers who convinced her that she was implicated in money laundering.

Additionally, Supt Sundra advised EPF members who receive suspicious calls to check whether the phone number is related to any fraud cases. They may do so via the Semak Mule website or mobile application by entering the phone number or bank account of the callers. Alternatively, they may contact the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Scam Response Centre at 03-26101559/1599 or 013-2111222 (for WhatsApp).

To note, the police force has already recorded 1,258 Macau scam cases between 1 January and 19 April this year, with losses amounting to RM65.4 million. Last year, a total of 1,585 cases were reported nationwide, involving RM560.8 million in losses.

(The Star [1, 2])

• TAGS:
• Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID)
• Employees Provident Fund (EPF)
• EPF
• KWSP
• Macau Scams
• Online Scams
• Pengeluaran Khas
• Special EPF Withdrawal
• Supt E. Sundra Rajan