JOHOR BAHRU: A trader and a company manager lost nearly RM2.5 million after being duped by a non-existent investment scam and online impersonators pretending to be the authorities.
Johor acting police chief DCP M. Kumar said the first case involved a company manager who lost RM1.06 million after being deceived by an online investment offer.
He said the 44-year-old man came across the Yomaex ‘cryptocurrency’ advertisement on Facebook, offering lucrative returns.
The victim then clicked the link provided and dealt with an individual via WhatsApp, where he was asked to download an application that would display the amount of profit and investment.
“The victim, attracted to the offer, proceeded to make payments to several bank accounts, totalling RM1.06 million, as instructed,” Kumar said in a statement.
However, the victim was unable to withdraw his ‘profits’ as advertised on the application and was instead asked to make additional payments.
It was then that the victim suspected he had been duped, and he could no longer access the application, he said.
In the second case, Kumar said a self-employed woman lost over RM1.4 million after being cheated by an individual claiming to be from a courier company, who claimed that she had a package containing prohibited substances.
He said the 45-year-old woman was then connected to two individuals who introduced themselves as police officers and said an arrest warrant had been issued against her.
Kumar said the individuals also offered to help the victim on the condition that she followed all the instructions given.
“For fear of being caught and subjected to legal action, the victim deposited money amounting to RM1.4 million into several bank accounts as instructed. Only after the payments were made did she realise that she had been cheated, as she was unable to contact the alleged scammers,” he said.
He added that both victims lodged police reports on Saturday, and the case was investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.–Bernama