MELAKA – Eight people from various states claimed they were duped out of RM1.85 million by a couple who posed as house contractors on Facebook.
One of the victims, Che Din, 50, lost RM245,000 after engaging the services of the couple’s company.
He had earlier seen the couple’s company advertisement on Facebook in January last year.
“I contacted the company, said to be in Batu Berendam, and based on the Facebook advertisement, the company has clients in Johor, Selangor, and even as far as Sabah.
“I called the marketing officer of the company and agreed to use their service to draw up a plan and build a house on my land,” he told a media conference here.
He said that based on the convincing advertisement that displayed model houses completed by the company and the progress of other projects on Facebook, both parties agreed to visit his house site in Muar, Johor.
However, the marketing officer and the couple, purportedly the chief executive officer and managing director of the company, could not be reached after he paid RM15,000 for the house plan and RM230,000 as a first-phase construction deposit.
“In fact, to date, the original copy of the house construction contract has not been given to me. The company in Batu Berendam and its Facebook site have closed, but it is believed to be actively seeking more victims,” he said.
Another victim, Ahmad Fuad, 38, was cheated of RM15,000 after using the company’s service to draw his house plan, and he was even promised that the house plan would be ready within three months.
“However, after making the payment, the company’s marketing officer started making various excuses and finally could not be contacted,” said Fuad, who is a restaurant operator in Bukit Beruang here.
He also explained that so far, there are six other individuals who are also victims of the syndicate’s fraud, with an estimated loss of RM1.85 million.
“I managed to track down these six other victims by chance, who each suffered a loss of between RM190,000 and RM300,000, and we believe there are many more victims of this syndicate, and several police reports have been made.
“We hope that an investigation will be carried out immediately to discourage more people from falling victim to the couple,” he said. – Bernama, June 23, 2023
