Johor Jaya assemblyman Liow Cai Tung (right) together with the 68-year-old victim known as ‘Phang’ at her office in Jalan Rosmerah, Johor Jaya, Pasir Gudang.
PASIR GUDANG: A retired businessman lost almost RM600,000 of his savings after falling victim to a cryptocurrency investment scam in July this year.
The victim, who only wanted to be known as Phang, shared that his greed had blinded him while urging members of the public, especially the youth, to be wary of pop-up investment ads on social media offering high returns.
“I came across an advertisement on May 27, on how to diversify my investment from just the stock market to cryptocurrency.
"Upon clicking on it, I was invited into a WhatsApp group and introduced to a man known as ‘Teacher Zang’.
“He then told me about the crypto market and asked me to download a cryptocurrency app on July 14,” said the 68-year-old when met at Johor Jaya assemblyman Liow Cai Tung's office here on Tuesday (Oct 10).
The victim said he made 19 online transactions, totalling RM582,185, between July 14 and Sept 11, to 12 different bank accounts.
“Based on the app, I should have made a profit of around US$1.4mil (RM6.6mil).
“I was very happy and started planning on what to do with the money,” he said, adding that he hoped to settle his debt and renovate his house.
On Oct 2, when Phang wanted to withdraw the money, he was declined by the operator and told to wait until the next day.
“On Oct 4, I was told that my account had been frozen by the Financial Action Task Force for involvement in money laundering activities.
“To lift the ban, I have to pay 3% of the US$1.4mil (US$43,000 or RM203,583).
“That was when I realised that I had been duped.
“At the same time, my wife came across news reports about other people, who fell victims to the crypto market scam,” he said.
Phang added that he had pleaded with "Teacher Zang" to help him but was ignored.
“I fell for this scam due to my greed, and I hope that my story can be a lesson to other people.
“Now I am just lucky that my wife did not divorce me,” he quipped, sharing that he owes his wife RM100,000.
Liow said of the 12 accounts that Phang had transferred money into, 11 were registered as scam accounts under the Semak Mule app.
“Based on the victim's story, we believed that this group is well-organised, It advertises on social media and in the WhatsApp group, the other “investors” were sharing their 'successes' to entice the victim to fork out more money.
“I hope that the public, especially the youth, can warn their elderly family members or relatives to not pay to unknown parties,” she said.
Seri Alam OCPD Supt Mohd Sohaimi Ishak said Phang’s case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
