KUALA TERENGGANU: A private sector retiree lost his savings of RM142,300 after being scammed by an advertisement on social media on the supposed sale of a 4WD vehicle.
Terengganu police chief Dept Comm Datuk Mohd Khairi Khairudin said the 55-year-old man surfed the site on May 13 and saw an advertisement on the sale of a Mitsubishi Pajero which was supposedly being auctioned off by a bank for RM28,000.
“Interested in the offer, the victim contacted the scammer through WhatsApp and made two transfers for deposit purposes of RM6,450 and a third transfer for insurance purposes of RM4,850 that day,” he said in a statement yesterday, Bernama reported.
DCP Mohd Khairi said the victim was also asked to make a payment for Customs clearance, and the man made 26 transfers totaling RM131,000.
He said the victim was promised that the money he paid using his savings would be returned once the sale and purchase of the vehicle was completed.
However, he said after being urged by the scammer to make another payment for various reasons, the victim made a police report on May 16.
DCP Mohd Khairi reminded all to be careful as offers that were too good to be true were likely to be a trap.
“Please check before conducting any transaction. Account numbers and phone numbers can be checked through the Commercial Crime Investigation Department’s official portal: https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/.
“If suspicious of being scammed, one can contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997,” he said.
