MIRI – Yet another senior citizen in Sarawak has been cheated big time by an online scam, this time a bogus investment offering lucrative commissions.
The victim is a woman aged 60 in the Padawan district who is a retired account officer, said state police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri today.
“The victim had recently seen an advertisement on Facebook that promised high returns of 35% for making investments.
“She clicked on the link on the Facebook ads and gave her personal details and phone contact.
“She later received a Whatsapp message with information that promised her high financial returns of 35% commission if she made online purchases,” Azman said in a press statement.
The victim was subsequently coaxed into making payments to the tune of RM133,432 via a series of 24 online transactions to seven different bank accounts with the hope of securing the attractive commission, he said.
“The victim so far got RM43 in commission. She realised she had been scammed and lodged a police report in Padawan,” said Azman.
He again appealed to the public not to be so easily taken in by offers of high financial returns that require them to make big payments.
Last Thursday, it was reported that another senior citizen in the state was cheated online, in that case by bogus enforcement officers to a sum of RM207,000.
That victim was a 73-year-old retired school teacher in Sibu district in central Sarawak.
A bogus group had sent Whatsapp messages and made calls to the victim claiming to be investigating officers from police and a certain ministry, Azman had said.
“The bogus officers had managed to frighten the retired teacher into believing that he (the victim) had committed criminal offences of spreading false information about Covid-19 and committing money laundering.
“They told him he is being investigated and coaxed him into opening a new bank account to transfer his money there so that they can help him solve his case.
“The victim had transferred up to RM207,000 to the account but later found out that the money had been withdrawn without his knowledge.
“He realised he had been cheated and lodged a police report,” said Azman.
Azman had appealed to the public not to be easily frightened by such calls or messages from people claiming to be enforcement officers.
He said they could always go to the nearest police station to check on the so-called cases to ascertain if they were indeed being investigated for anything.
Last week, another senior citizen aged 66 had reportedly been cheated of RM1.2 million by a fake enforcement group who managed to frighten him into believing he was being hunted over financial criminal offences.
On June 9, it was reported that fraudsters operating online scams were also targeting young students and senior citizens, police have warned. – The Vibes, June 17, 2023
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