RM150,000 crypto scam loss a painful lesson for retired teacher

BATU PAHAT: A retired woman teacher has lost more than RM150,000 of her savings in a cryptocurrency investment scam.

Acting Batu Pahat OCPD Supt Shahrulanuar Mushaddat Abdullah Sani confirmed that the 56-year-old victim lodged a police report after realising she had been cheated.

“She claimed that on March 26, she came across several investment advertisements on Telegram offering high investment returns.

“The victim then contacted a person through WhatsApp who provided her with a link to an investment scheme and told her to provide her personal information,” he said here on Wednesday (July 10).

Supt Shahrulanuar Mushaddat added that between March 29 and Saturday (July 6), the victim transferred her money to 34 different bank accounts in stages, amounting to RM156,850.

He said the victim then saw the profits made through the investment and wanted to withdraw her money.

“However, the suspect kept giving her excuses and told her to invest more money although she had already transferred more than RM150,000.

“She decided not to follow the suspect’s instructions as she felt she had been cheated, and lodged a police report," he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.