KUANTAN – A Form 6 student lost RM22,300, including inheritance money from her late mother, after falling victim to a non-existent investment scheme on Telegram last month.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the 19-year-old victim claimed that on December 14 she paid RM1,000 as capital to obtain an identification number and password to the investment website, with the promise of receiving a return within three hours.
“The victim claimed that checks on the website revealed that she had gained a return of RM16,000 but had to make some payments before she could withdraw the money, causing her to use the inheritance,” he said in a statement today.
Ramli said the victim finally realised that the investment scheme was fake after she failed to get the promised money and lodged a report at the Bera district police headquarters yesterday.
In a separate case, a pensioner claimed to have lost almost RM100,000, including his Employees’ Provident Fund savings, after being duped by a Macau Scam syndicate on December 21.
The victim, who wished to be known as Ng, 58, claimed that he received a call from a man who introduced himself as a police officer from the Penang police contingent headquarters who was investigating a drug trafficking case allegedly involving the victim.
“The call was then transferred to a woman who claimed to be a Bank Negara Malaysia officer who later sent me a link via WhatsApp to collect my details, including banking information, for checking purposes,” he told a press conference here, with Semambu assemblyman Chan Chun Kuang also present.
Ng said he only realised that he had lost some of his savings on December 29 and lodged a police report on the same day. – Bernama, January 2, 2023
