MELAKA – A childcare centre operator in Bukit Piatu here suffered losses of RM1.06 million in less than two weeks after she was cheated by an acquaintance into investing in a non-existent scheme.
Melaka police chief Datuk Zainol Samah said the victim, a 53-year-old woman, became acquainted with a Taiwanese man, said to be living in Japan, through Instagram on April 27.
“Since then they kept in touch with each other through Line online and SMS and soon developed a close relationship.
“On May 7, the suspect encouraged the victim to invest by buying goods purportedly from the United States through the website https://everythingmallx.cc/,” he said in a statement here today.
He said the victim was required to purchase the items in bulk before reselling them to earn a 10% profit on every item.
She then made 28 payments in stages into six different accounts totaling RM1.06 million between May 7 and 30.
Zainol said that on May 30, the victim found out through the website that her commission had reached US$200,000 (RM922,400), but she became suspicious and realised she had been duped when she was told to make an additional payment to obtain the commission.
The next day the website could not be accessed and the suspect’s Instagram account was closed, which prompted the victim to lodge a report at Ayer Keroh on Wednesday. – Bernama, June 9, 2023
