A FEMALE technician was duped while attempting to obtain a BPOM certificate issued by Indonesian health authorities to facilitate the export of her products to the country.
Kuala Terengganu District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Azli Mohd Noor said the victim lodged a police report at 12.54pm yesterday.
He said the victim was initially drawn to an advertisement for a programme titled ‘Jom Eksport Ke Indonesia’ on Facebook under the account name Wan Muhd Ali on March 23, 2024, at about 9pm.
The victim then joined a WhatsApp group through a link provided in the advertisement and began communicating with a woman who introduced herself as ‘Noor Feirouz’.
“On May 7, 2024, the victim attended an online briefing via Zoom and decided to participate in the Trip Titian Muhibbah programme from May 15 to 17, 2024.
“Following that, the victim made 10 online transactions into an account to pay for exhibition booth rental and BPOM-related arrangements for the products she intended to market,” he said.
Azli said the total amount paid by the victim was RM58,500, and she became suspicious after the BPOM certificate was not issued as promised.
The BPOM certificate refers to approval issued by Indonesia’s Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan (BPOM), the government agency responsible for regulating food and drug products, with a role similar to Malaysia’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).- August 7, 2026