KOTA TINGGI: A septuagenarian here lost more than RM100,000 after falling victim to a year-long bogus Islamic investment scheme promising high returns.
Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Yusof Othman said the victim, a 73-year-old man, lodged a police report on Thursday (Dec 19) claiming he suffered losses amounting to RM107,296 after being deceived by a syndicate.
"His ordeal began in Oct 2023 when he saw an advertisement on Facebook offering an Islamic method of investing in shares, advertised by Crasping Silver.
"He became interested in making an investment and sent a message to the Facebook account to learn more," he said on Friday (Dec 20).
Supt Yusof added that the victim was then contacted via WhatsApp by a woman who explained the investment, promising double profits.
"The suspect told him that one of the rules to invest was to first register as a Crasping Silver member. After registering, he made payments from Oct last year to Oct 2024.
"The victim made 15 payment transactions to nine different bank accounts during that time. Throughout this period, he did not receive any profits," he said.
Supt Yusof noted that the victim made his last payment on Oct 24 and failed to contact the suspect before realising he had been scammed.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. Supt Yusof urged the public to be vigilant and not to trust investment offers promising huge returns in a short time.
He also advised the public to follow the police commercial crime department's social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest information on scammers' modus operandi.
"The public should also verify bank accounts before making financial transactions using the Semak Mule service online and download the Whoscall Apps to avoid being scammed," he added.
Supt Yusof said if someone becomes a scam victim, they should immediately contact the national scam response centre at 997 as an early action to stop the money from leaving the suspect’s account.
