72-year-old living alone gets abducted and forced to hand over her S$12K savings to frauds

MALAYSIA: A 72-year-old Malaysian woman living alone in a small town in Pahang was abducted in broad daylight on Wednesday (Sept 4) by two young men, who forced her to withdraw her savings of RM40,000 (about S$12,200).

Thanks to the efforts of her family and members of the public, the elderly woman was found safely and her money recovered.

According to Sin Chew Daily, the woman, who has one son and four daughters, lives alone following the death of her husband. All of her children work outside the city.

Around 12 noon on Thursday (Sept 4), two men approached the woman outside her home, telling her they would take her to the hospital and help her handle bank matters. In confusion, she followed them into a car. One of the suspects also entered her house and took a small iron box suspected to contain gold jewellery.

Her youngest daughter told the paper that her mother usually had a strong temper and was not someone who would easily trust strangers.

CCTV footage from the woman’s home, together with a neighbour’s security camera that captured the vehicle involved, helped the family trace crucial clues. They quickly posted a missing person notice on social media.

According to the family, the suspects first took the woman to a bank to withdraw money, but their request was refused due to the large amount. They then drove her to another bank in Selangor, where RM40,000 was successfully withdrawn.

The suspects later abandoned the elderly woman on the street.

She spent the night alone outdoors until she was discovered by a passerby around 9:30 a.m. the next morning (Sept 5), who contacted her family to bring her home.

The woman’s eldest daughter told the press that her mother was not physically injured, but she did not sleep or eat through the night, which deeply distressed her children. She urged members of the public to remain vigilant to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

The woman’s nephew said the suspects had rented a black luxury SUV to carry out the crime and appeared to be specifically targeting elderly people living alone.

He added that a man from Seremban later contacted the family, claiming his mother had been defrauded of RM80,000 (about S$24,400) using the same method earlier.

Police have since located the vehicle involved in the incident, but the two suspects remain at large. The authorities confirmed that the 72-year-old woman is the third victim to report such a case.

Investigations are ongoing.