The Star

PENANG: A college student lost all her college fees totalling RM148,000 to a syndicate which told her that she had won RM3.3mil in two Internet lucky draws.

The 20-year-old student first received a call on March 20 from a woman telling her that she had won RM120,000 in a Hong Kong Turf Club online draw.

But in order to collect her winnings, she was told to deposit RM46,000 as insurance and processing fees.

She then transferred the amount into an overseas bank account on March 30.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said later the same day, she received another call from a man informing her that she had won another RM3.2mil in a bonus draw.

“She managed to raise another RM102,000 which was the fees for the whole duration of her course. The money was then deposited into the same account on Wednesday.

“After not hearing anything from the callers, she realised she had been cheated and made a police report the next day,” he said on Friday.

ACP Azam said a check showed that the phone number used to call the victim was registered in China, adding that the case had been classified as cheating.

“This was not the first time that such a thing had occurred. We have warned several times through the media but such a thing continues to occur.

“The syndicate could also be behind several cases reported in the state over the past several months,” he said.