Malaysia

Woman realises she lost RM150k in online investment scam after seeking advice from ChatGPT

Victim in Nilai allegedly lured by promises of extraordinary stock investment returns before discovering the scheme was fraudulent

Updated 1 month ago · Published on 20 May 2026 8:35AM

Woman realises she lost RM150k in online investment scam after seeking advice from ChatGPT
The victim finds attempts to withdraw supposed lucrative stock market returns blocked and her application account frozen - May 20, 2026

A HUMAN resources assistant manager in Nilai has lost more than RM150,000 after falling victim to a non-existent online investment scheme that promised lucrative stock market returns and displayed fabricated profits worth hundreds of thousands of ringgit.

The woman, believed to be in her early 40s, only realised she had been deceived after repeated attempts to withdraw her supposed earnings failed and the investment application account was eventually blocked.

Nilai district police chief Superintendent Johari Yahya said the victim later became suspicious and sought clarification from ChatGPT before concluding that she had been scammed.

“At 6.33pm yesterday, the complaint counter at Nilai Police Station received a report from a local woman in her early 40s regarding the incident,” he said in a statement today.

Johari said the victim had first been approached on March 18 by an individual identifying herself as “Chloe Lau” through a social media platform offering a stock investment scheme with unusually high returns.

“The victim stated that on March 18, she dealt with an individual known as Chloe Lau through social media who offered a stock investment scheme,” he said.

Enticed by the promise of substantial profits, the victim downloaded an investment application onto her mobile phone and began transferring money into several bank accounts linked to the scheme.

Police said the woman, who works as an assistant manager at a private company in Nilai, eventually transferred RM163,500 in total.

However, despite the application allegedly showing significant returns, she was repeatedly unable to withdraw any funds.

“Yesterday, the complainant realised she had been deceived after several unsuccessful attempts to withdraw the profits obtained through the application,” Johari said.

Investigators believe the syndicate used fake profit displays to convince victims that their investments were generating massive returns, while preventing any actual withdrawals from being processed.

The Nilai District Commercial Crime Investigation Division has since opened an investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

“Investigations are ongoing to trace and arrest the suspect,” Johari said.

He also urged the public to verify investment offers with the relevant authorities before participating in any financial scheme and warned against sharing banking details with unknown individuals.

“The police advise the public to conduct checks with the authorities before joining any investment scheme and not to provide banking information to unknown individuals,” he said. - May 20, 2026

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