(Miri, 11th) Miri District Police Chief Assistant Superintendent Lee Bing Qiang confirmed in a statement that on the 10th of this month, the Miri Commercial Crime Investigation Unit received a report regarding an impersonation scam in which someone pretended to be an acquaintance to borrow money. The victim, a local man in his 60s, suffered losses amounting to RM253,110.
He said the incident occurred during December 2025, when the victim received a call from the phone number 012-9324379. The caller claimed to be the son of one of the victim’s friends and, citing the inability to access or the freezing of funds for a family engineering project, requested a loan from the victim to cover related Singapore bank expenses.
“The suspect even provided the victim with a document indicating that the project indeed existed and promised that once the project funds were released, not only would the borrowed money be repaid, but a higher amount would be returned.”
He noted that, unsuspectingly, the victim made 41 separate transfers, remitting the total sum into four different bank accounts. Only after informing his family did the victim realize he had been scammed.
Initial police investigations showed the total loss suffered by the victim was RM253,110. The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code (Fraud), with Inspector Sisim bin Abd Samad in charge of the investigation.
Lee Bing Qiang urged the public to always remain vigilant and to never disclose or provide any personal or financial information to unknown callers, especially if the caller claims to be a friend, acquaintance, delivery personnel, law enforcement, or court staff. Extra caution should be exercised in these situations.
He also reminded that if you unfortunately become a victim of online scams (such as phone scams, romance scams, e-commerce scams, non-existent loans, etc.) and have just completed a fund transfer, immediately call the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) at 997 for assistance.
Additionally, before conducting any financial transactions, the public can make use of the police's CCID Check Scammers system or visit semakmule.rmp.gov.my to verify the authenticity of suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts, and follow the official social media platforms of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Team for the latest scam tactics.
“The suspect even provided the victim with a document indicating that the project indeed existed and promised that once the project funds were released, not only would the borrowed money be repaid, but a higher amount would be returned.”
He noted that, unsuspectingly, the victim made 41 separate transfers, remitting the total sum into four different bank accounts. Only after informing his family did the victim realize he had been scammed.
Initial police investigations showed the total loss suffered by the victim was RM253,110. The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code (Fraud), with Inspector Sisim bin Abd Samad in charge of the investigation.
Lee Bing Qiang urged the public to always remain vigilant and to never disclose or provide any personal or financial information to unknown callers, especially if the caller claims to be a friend, acquaintance, delivery personnel, law enforcement, or court staff. Extra caution should be exercised in these situations.
He also reminded that if you unfortunately become a victim of online scams (such as phone scams, romance scams, e-commerce scams, non-existent loans, etc.) and have just completed a fund transfer, immediately call the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) at 997 for assistance.
Additionally, before conducting any financial transactions, the public can make use of the police's CCID Check Scammers system or visit semakmule.rmp.gov.my to verify the authenticity of suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts, and follow the official social media platforms of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Team for the latest scam tactics.