PETALING JAYA: Stories of victims being scammed of their savings through bogus investments are aplenty.
Chances are, you would have known a friend or family member who had been swindled; perhaps, you might have even been scammed.
For medical professional Chan (not his real name), he felt the sting even more because he was duped by someone he thought was a friend.
It started with a former schoolmate touching base with him on Facebook with plans of starting an investment business sometime around 2020 and 2021. The guy painted an enticing picture that included Chan’s other friends.
“He then asked if I was interested in trying him out (for the investment). He also said he was doing the same with other schoolmates.
“I thought there was no harm in trying, so I invested what amounted to A$7,000 (RM19,340) at the time. Things seemed legitimate, and he would give me quarterly updates on the shares he bought in my name,” he related.
However, as time went by, Chan noticed some peculiar actions on the scammer’s part.
“He did ask me to transfer the money to some random person’s account for the initial investment, which I thought was odd. He then asked if I wanted to put in more money as he had a good tip that some share was going to rocket. So I put another A$7,000 in.
“After that transaction, he pretty much ‘ghosted’ me. He did not answer my messages or calls,” he added.
Last year, the scammer in question was charged with wrongdoing in Kuala Lumpur.
Such stories are nothing new in the media and are in fact being reported with increasing regularity.
One such case showed over 100 investors with combined losses of RM2.4mil after being allegedly cheated by a married couple.
The losses suffered by each victim ranged from RM10,000 to RM250,000.
Victims told the media of their plight at a press conference arranged by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur previously.
Gerald Chee Ka Onn, 44, said he lost about RM10,000 to the scheme.
“The husband and wife were directors of the company. The wife was also my collegemate.
“They approached me in July 2021 about investing in their company, with the ultimate goal of establishing dental clinics around the country.
“Impressed by their pitch and trusting my old college friend, I decided to invest in the company, hoping for decent returns,” he said.
Alas, that was the last he saw of his money.
