KUALA TERENGGANU: A kindergarten teacher lost RM108,703 after falling victim to an online job scam and a fraudulent moneylending agent.
Kuala Terengganu police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said the 32-year-old victim was first contacted by a male suspect on June 20, who claimed she had been selected as a lucky customer and won a prize consisting of groceries.
On June 28, the victim received groceries worth around RM50 as promised and was then asked to provide her bank account number to receive a supposed RM8 reward.
"She was later offered a part-time job that involved clicking product links and following accounts in exchange for lucrative rewards. However, the suspect claimed the victim was late in completing her tasks and had to pay a penalty to retrieve the promised earnings,” he said in a statement Tuesday (July 8).
Azli said the victim used all her savings and proceeds from selling jewellery to make transfers to several bank accounts between July 1 and 3, and then was instructed to make an additional payment of RM75,000.
In desperation, she sought to borrow money through two online loan sharks (ah long) and made deposit payments to five different bank accounts. However, no loan was ever disbursed.
"The loan agents claimed the payments were for processing and administrative fees. Despite making the payments, the victim never received the promised funds,” he said.
Realising she had been scammed by two separate syndicates, the victim lodged a police report yesterday evening.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. - Bernama
