Over the past 11 months, a 69-year-old vegetable trader has unwittingly transferred his hard-earned savings to a 'banker based abroad', falling prey to a scam.

The elderly resident of Cameron Highlands was deceived into depositing RM958,088 from his savings after being persuaded into believing he was entitled to inherit approximately RM61 million in a deal with the fraudulent banker. According to Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman, the incident began on March 30 last year when the victim received a phone call from someone posing as a bank officer via Facebook.

"The purported banker claimed to be calling from Barclays Bank in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The scammer presented the victim with a proposition, stating that he merely needed to assert his relationship to an individual who had left behind a substantial fortune totaling US$26 million (RM123 million).

"If the victim agreed to the arrangement, he was promised fifty percent of the total cash amount. Subsequently, the call was connected to a supposed lawyer who assured the victim that he would handle the case and transfer the promised amount once all formalities were settled.

"The victim was instructed to cover expenses such as taxes, levies, anti-money laundering fees, and various other charges. Utilizing his savings, the victim conducted 70 transactions totaling RM958,088 across 26 different bank accounts," he explained, noting that the transactions occurred between May 9 of last year and March 11.

Yahaya stated that the victim filed a police report yesterday after facing continued pressure to make additional payments in pursuit of the promised cash.

He cautioned the public to exercise caution regarding phone calls offering such deals and advised verifying such calls with authorities promptly to avoid falling victim to such scams.

Yahaya mentioned that the case is currently under investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code.