JOHOR BARU: A private sector clerk lost more than RM250,000 of her savings after falling victim to an online investment scam.
South Johor Baru OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said the 30-year-old victim received a WhatsApp message from a Chinese man named Hunk while she was at her home in Bandar Baru Permas Jaya at about 3.44 pm.
“The victim was offered an investment opportunity that supposedly required her only to transfer money into a designated wallet, with the promise of receiving her capital along with a 1.99% return within 14 days.
Enticed by the lucrative offer, the victim made 15 purchases of ethereum through her Luno account totalling RM252,798, before transferring the cryptocurrency to the suspect’s wallet,” he said in a statement on Saturday (Sept 6).
He added that the victim did not receive any returns despite making the payments.
“The suspect continued to request further cryptocurrency transfers, but the clerk refused. The victim then realised she had been cheated and lodged a police report on Friday (Sept 5),” he said.
ACP Raub said initial checks through the CCIS system found that the phone number used by the suspect had no prior fraud record, but it was believed to have been misused by certain parties for scam activities.
“Further investigations are being carried out, including obtaining the details of the bank accounts involved, recording statements from the banks, conducting checks with the telco to identify the owner of the phone number used by the suspect, as well as tracking down and arresting those involved.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of one to 10 years, with whipping and a fine, upon conviction,” he said.
He also advised the public to be cautious when receiving investment offers through social media or WhatsApp, to verify them via the official Semak Mule portal and not to be easily swayed by promises of high returns in a short time.
“Immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to report any fraudulent activities.
I stress that legitimate investments will never require payments into personal accounts or promise extraordinary returns within a short period,” he said.
