SIBU: A 62-year-old female government retiree here claimed to have suffered losses amounting to RM10,000 on Wednesday due to a suspected Macau Scam scam in which she was alleged to have been linked to the 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

In a police report she lodged yesterday, the victim said she had received a phone call from a man who claimed to be a sergeant from a police headquarters in Negeri Sembilan informing her that her bank card had been used by an individual named Jimmy Wong, as part the crime.

"The victim had earlier received a call on her home phone in Sibu Jaya from a man who claimed that her line was being used to conduct online gambling activities," said Sibu District Police Chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit in a statement here yesterday.

Following the call from the so-called sergeant, the call was connected to an 'Inspector' who said the victim needed to transfer RM10,000 to the National Audit Department if she wished to resolve the matter.

"Due of panic, the woman went to a bank in Jalan Kampung Datu near here at around 12.30 pm and transferred RM4,950 for the first transaction, and the same amount in the second, and RM100 in the third transaction to an account belonging to a man named Shamsudin Abu Hassan.

"The victim only realised she had been duped after returning home, and then filed a police report," he added.

-- BERNAMA