Senior citizen loses RM23,000 in cash aid scam

SEREMBAN: A 68-year-old retiree from Tampin near here has lost about RM23,000 in a cash aid scam on social media.

Negri Sembilan Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said the victim's troubles started in December when an old friend contacted him via Facebook telling him that retirees in the B40 group could apply for cash assistance online.

"The victim's friend told him that he had applied for it and received payment.

"All he needed to do was to go to a link on Facebook and he would be able to apply for the assistance," Supt Aibee said in a statement on Monday (June 21).

He said the victim did as instructed and was soon connected to an "agent" named Sylvester Douglas, who then told him he had won RM100,000 after applying for the assistance.

However, the victim was told that to redeem his "winnings", he would have to make an upfront payment.

Supt Aibee said the victim then started transferring money into 20 different accounts in stages from Dec 12 until Friday (June 18).

When his "winnings" never arrived, he realised that he had been conned and lodged a report on June 19.

"Preliminary police probe shows that a syndicate, which is involved in 45 other scams, is also behind this one.

"They cheat the public via online shopping, buying and selling old currency, and love scams," he said.

He advised the public to exercise caution when accepting friend requests on Facebook or from strangers.

The case is being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.