JOHOR BARU: Scam syndicates are taking advantage of the sudden rise in the prices of cryptocurrencies and foreign exchange to target professionals by offering huge returns.
These syndicates, believed to be operated by locals and China nationals, are offering returns of up to 25% to 50% to their victims, who are usually enticed to invest after they are befriended online or via telephone calls.
In one case alone, a senior manager here was conned of more than RM500,000 in one such fake cryptocurrency deal several days ago.
The victim was offered the “investment” opportunity after being befriended by an unknown person via social media.
The victim realised he was cheated when he could not contact the seller after transferring the monies to an unknown account.
Meanwhile, officers from the Johor Baru South district police headquarters arrested seven people, including a Chinese national, for being involved in similar cryptocurrency scams in a series of raids in the city.
All the suspects, in their 20s and 30s, including two women, have since been remanded to assist in investigations.
Sources said it is still not clear if the same group was also involved in scamming the senior manager of RM500,000.
However, police investigations into this group showed they even had a fake website offering lucrative returns to convince the victims the deals are genuine.
It is learnt that some of the victims are not just locals but also those from overseas, including from China.
All victims were befriended on social media.Police have since seized an array of items from the suspects, including laptops and more than a dozen mobile phones.
Police are still tracking down other suspects to assist in investigations.
Meanwhile in another scam case, officers from the Iskandar Puteri district police headquarters arrested eight people, including four Chinese nationals, involved in a forex scam.
The suspects, in their 20s and 30s, were all arrested in a luxury apartment in Taman Bukit Indah several days ago.
Police have since seized cash, laptops and more than a dozen mobile phones from the suspects.
Sources said the syndicate, which also has its own foreign exchange website, offers returns of up to 50% to entice investors to invest in Japanese and United States markets.
Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm Dzulkhairi Mukhtar when contacted confirmed the arrest of the eight suspects in his district and said investigations are still ongoing.
He urged those with information to contact the police hotline at 07-221 2999.
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