KUALA LUMPUR: A 58-year-old insurance agent lost RM1.58mil to an investment scam.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the woman lodged a police report in George Town, Penang, on Feb 28.
“She claimed to have got to know a man named Goh through WhatsApp in November last year.
“The suspect asked her to join an investment scheme with connections to gambling activities in Singapore,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The victim downloaded an app which was recommended by the suspect and proceeded to register an investment account.
“She was contacted by another individual who asked her to make payments to begin her investment.
“She ended up performing 27 transactions to six bank accounts belonging to different companies between Dec 19 and Feb 20, amounting to RM1.58mil,” he said.
Comm Ramli said the bulk of the capital originated from bank loans and credit cards.
“She also borrowed money from friends apart from her own savings,” he added.
The victim realised she was duped after failing to get any returns. She was even asked to make additional payments just to withdraw her investment.
Police are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
On another matter, Comm Ramli said the police have detected advertisements for bogus investment schemes using deepfake technology on Facebook.
“The advertisements showed videos purportedly of Tesla co-founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk and local political figures.
“The ads alleged that personalities such as Musk needed the public to make investments of as low as RM1,200 to get returns of up to RM100,000 a month.
“It also claimed the scheme is supposedly approved by the government,” he said.
The deepfake technology also made it seem like Musk and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok were explaining the benefits of the scheme on the videos, he said.
“We are confident the videos are fake and designed to fool the public.
“The web link listed on the ads would bring users to another Facebook page,” he said.
Comm Ramli said the scheme supposedly used the Quantum AI platform and claimed anyone could join it even if they have no investment knowledge.
“We advise the public to be wary of such tactics as they are designed to dupe victims,” he said.
