JOHOR BARU: A financial planner, who previously cautioned his clients about investment pitfalls, has fallen victim to a bogus financing scheme and lost more than RM550,000.
His misfortune began when he was added into a social media group offering opportunities in shares and investments.
The syndicate assured the 40-something man that it was a genuine and legitimate scheme approved by the Securities Commission.
Sources said the financial planner was initially not interested but eventually became convinced by the many “testimonies” from other supposed investors who made huge profits.
“He decided to give it a try and downloaded an application. He put in a first investment of RM10,000,” one of the sources said.
Within a short span of time, his investment had grown by 22%.
Sources said that the man was impressed with the returns and decided to withdraw RM2,200 of his profits.
He was further convinced as the transaction went smoothly and his principal sum of RM10,000 was shown clearly in his account, as displayed in the social media application.
“Believing that this scheme was genuine, he carried out more than a dozen transactions, putting in about RM550,000 in the last two months,” another source said.
The sources said that the syndicate had continued to sweet-talk him into placing more funds and had promised him huge returns.
It later dawned on him that he had been duped when he was unable to withdraw some of his profits.
He lodged a police report several days ago after verifying with the Securities Commission that this scheme was not a legal or registered one.
In another case, a 31-year-old clerk lost her savings of more than RM270,000 to a bogus investment scheme in Batu Pahat.
A friend had told her about a social media group that had supposedly been offering a monthly return of 6% since 2021.
Sources said that the syndicate managed to dupe the woman into transferring her money into the dubious scheme with promises of huge returns.
The clerk only lodged a report recently after the friend disappeared.
Police are investigating both cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said in a recent statement that the public should be careful as some RM8.8mil in losses were recorded last month in Johor due to various scams.
