KUANTAN: A factory supervisor suffered a loss of RM164,601 in an online love scam after befriending a woman via Facebook two years ago.
Pahang police chief Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the man, aged 56, was then offered a part-time job in a scheme on a platform through a link sent on WhatsApp in December 2022.
He said all meetings and business dealings between the victim and suspect were not conducted face-to-face but only through WhatsApp.
"After three months of working part-time, the victim's online business account was blocked as the customers did not receive the ordered goods," he said in a statement on Saturday (March 25).
Therefore, he said, the victim decided to close the account and to take out the profits that had been recorded amounting to RM700,000, however, was told to first pay the processing fee, and government tax including customs management fees to redeem the profit.
According to him, the victim had conducted 14 transactions via three different accounts totalling RM164,601 using his savings including from his Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
He said the victim's attempts to contact the woman who introduced him to the online business platform failed and he was only told that she was out of the country pertaining to her mother's medical matters.
The victim then realised that he had been cheated and lodged a report with the Kuantan police headquarters on Friday (March 24).
Meanwhile, Comm Ramli reminded the public to be vigilant and not be easily duped by unknown individuals on social media.
He added that the public should also check the accounts received at the link https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/ first before making any transactions.- Bernama
