Two business owners in Johor lose over RM1mil to financial scams on social media

JOHOR BARU: Two business owners have lost more than RM1mil to financial scams on social media, here.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said that the police received two separate reports from the victims, who lost a total of RM1.09mil on Tuesday (Jan 9) and Wednesday (Jan 10).

"The first case was of a 62-year-old businesswoman who suffered losses amounting to RM512,529 after falling prey to an investment scam.

"In April last year, the victim came across an investment scheme that was offering high returns on social media.

"She clicked on the link on the social media post and was led to the suspect through WhatsApp.

"She was told to download an application that was allegedly meant to monitor her investments," he said in a statement on Friday (Jan 12).

He added that the victim was told to put in a high amount of investment in order to get higher returns.

"She believed the suspect and made payment of RM512,202 to several bank accounts.

"She realised she had been duped after receiving only RM924 of returns. She was told to make more payments in order to get her money back and the returns," he said.

Comm Kamarul Zaman said the second case involved a 57-year-old businessman who fell prey to a non-existence loan scheme and lost RM585,107.

"The victim came across an advertisement on social media in December last year about a loan scheme and was enticed by it.

"He then contacted the suspect and submitted his personal details to the person as well as the amount he wanted to borrow.

"He was later told that his application has been accepted but he needed to make some payments for lawyer fees, stamp duties and Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) tax," he said.

He said that the victim then made payments amounting to RM585,107 to several bank accounts.

"He realised that he has been cheated as he never receive the money that was promised and was instead told to give more money," he said.

Comm Kamarul Zaman said that both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.