Company manager loses over RM200,000 to fish-breeding scam

JOHOR BARU: A company manager in his late 50s lost more than RM200,000 when he was duped by a fake investment scam involving a fish-breeding company purportedly operating in Hong Kong.

Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said a report was lodged by the victim on Sunday (April 28), adding that a suspect had offered the victim an investment opportunity to buy shares in the company at a rate of US$0.60 (RM2.86) per unit.

He added that the victim was promised revenue within the next three years..

“Interested in the offer, the victim made two payments and handed over a cheque to the suspect through bank transactions between Aug 3, 2018 and Sept 19, 2018.

“The payment was made to a locally-registered company,” he said in a statement here on Monday (April 29).

Comm Kumar added that to date, the victim had not received any of the promised returns after paying a total of RM239,868.

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

Meanwhile, Comm Kumar said police in the state recorded 218 cases of fake investment scams from January to April this year, with losses amounting to RM19.2mil.

“This is an increase of 70 cases, or 47%, if compared to last year’s 148 reports with RM10.9mil losses in the same period," he said.

He added that the public should not fall for any investment schemes that sound too good to be true and to always check the Bank Negara Malaysia Alert List, Semak Mule portal, and Securities Commission of Malaysia Investment Checker before making any investment.

“They could also visit the Commercial Crime Investigation Department's (CCID) social media page to see the latest tactics scammers use.

“Those who have become victims can immediately call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to block the financial transaction from the suspect account,” he said.