MIRI: A total of RM128,000 was swindled from unsuspecting victims of a scam known as ‘Court Scam’ by unidentified suspects with six cases reported to the police here.

In a press conference here, Miri police chief ACP Jamaludin Ibrahim said police are still investigating the case.

He told reporters the modus operandi of those behind the scam.

In one case, the suspect made a telephone call by fixed line to the victim, identifying himself as a police officer from Bukit Aman, and telling the victim he was required to attend a court hearing in Kuala Lumpur as his bank account had been used for illegal activities involving Along and illegal money.

The con man told the victim his account was subsequently under investigation, and advised him to withdraw all the money from his account and transfer it to an account provided by the suspect; his money would be kept in the account during the period of investigation, and would be returned to him once the case is solved.

To make the scam look real, the first suspect had his accomplice - a woman who identified herself as a public prosecutor from Kuala Lumpur court - call the victim, advising him to transfer his money to the account provided by the first suspect otherwise he would have to attend a court hearing in Kuala Lumpur.

The suspect promised to contact the victim once the money had been banked in. The suspect only realised he had been conned when the suspect did not call back after the money was banked in.

“There are a lot of these cases being reported and this kind of scam had become worrisome, I would like to advise members of the public to be cautious and never give their money to people they do not know. If you happen to receive such calls, don’t entertain them and the best course of action is contact the police, the court or the bank to avoid being swindled,” said Jamaludin.

“People who are easy prey to swindlers are those who are greedy,” he said adding that they fall victims to the sweet talk of the predators either online, via phone calls or SMS.

Meanwhile in an unrelated case, Jamaludin said police had arrested four locals - three women and a man - suspected of being involved in conducting an illegal lottery.

A police team led by ASP Anthony Abell made the arrest in a raid on Oct 8. It confiscated 12 fax machines, several calculators and writing materials.

Based on police investigation, the amount of weekly betting collected in the illegal operation was estimated at RM300,000.

The suspects would be charged under the Open Gaming House Act 1953 Section 4A(a) which carries a maximum fine of RM200,000 or two year’s imprisonment upon conviction.

This is the third such case, said Jamaludin. The first was in January and the second in August. He said the first and last case were related.

Police meanwhile believed that several housebreaking cases rampant in Lutong and Desa Senadin areas lately were solved with the arrest of two male suspects, aged 27 and 42, on Oct 16, 2008 at a house in Kg Pengkalan Lutong.

A laptop, a watch and remote control kit were confiscated. The two suspects would be produced in court tomorrow.