GEORGE TOWN: Two people, including an elderly man, suffered losses totalling RM2.35mil after falling victim to online investment scams in separate incidents in Penang.
State police chief Comm Datuk Hamzah Ahmad said in the first case, the Commercial Crime Investigation division of the Seberang Perai Tengah district police headquarters received a complaint from a 57-year-old local man on Saturday after he lost almost RM1.5mil.
“According to the insurance agent, he saw a stock investment advertisement promising high returns on Facebook in December.
“The victim then contacted a female suspect via WhatsApp.
“The investment offered various packages with promises of lucrative returns.
“The victim downloaded the stock investment application and on Dec 30, made the first transfer of RM9,999. He earned a profit of RM18,400,” Comm Hamzah said in a statement yesterday, Bernama reported.
He said the victim’s confidence grew in the investment and he subsequently made 35 fund transfers between Feb 17 and April 24 into seven bank accounts belonging to different companies totalling RM1,495,176.
Comm Hamzah said the man only realised he had been a victim of fraud after failing to withdraw profits from the investment app and was even asked to make an additional payment.
In the second case, he said a 73-year-old retired accountant at a factory filed a police report at the George Town district police headquarters on Saturday after falling victim to an online investment scam involving a loss of RM855,001.
“According to the victim, he saw an advertisement on cryptocurrency investment that offered high profits in a short period of time on Facebook in March.
“The elderly person clicked on the advertisement link before contacting a female suspect via WhatsApp,” he said.
Comm Hamzah said the victim downloaded the investment application before making 14 transactions to five bank accounts belonging to different companies from April 15 to June 11, but did not receive any profits.
He added that investigations were being carried out to trace the fraud syndicate.
Both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
