JOHOR BARU: Scammers are now targeting teachers and academics, with at least three hit with RM440,000 in total losses in various investment scams.
It is learnt that two of the victims were promised returns of about 10% per week, while a former lecturer was enticed with up to 15% in daily returns.
In the first case, a teacher who came across an online advertisement, which promised 10% weekly returns, decided to take a loan to invest in a trading account.
A police officer said the victim, in his 30s, was so convinced with the scheme that he pawned his wife’s jewellery to raise the RM220,000 investment amount.
“Over two weeks, the victim carried out transfers to almost eight different accounts before realising he was duped," the officer said, adding that the teacher lodged a police report in Batu Pahat recently.
In the second case, a kindergarten teacher in her 30s who responded to an online advertisement offering high returns every five days, lost her savings of RM120,000 to a fake cryptocurrency scheme.
“Within three weeks, the woman transferred money to six different bank accounts,” the officer said, adding that she lodged a police report in Batu Pahat after realising the scam.
In the third case, a former lecturer was conned of RM100,000 by an online advertisement offering returns of up to 15% daily.
The officer said weeks after parting with her savings, the woman in her 60s found that her "investment" account had reached almost RM4mil.
“However, the woman was unable to make a withdrawal and was instead asked to make more payments,” the officer said, adding that the woman then lodged a police report in Masai, Pasir Gudang.
The officer confirmed that police were investigating all three cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The officer advised the public to use the SemakMule mobile app or visit https:/semakmule.rmp.gov.my to check if bank accounts or phone numbers were linked with suspicious activities.
Meanwhile, a 52-year-old contractor who was promised a hefty 15% commission lost his savings totaling over RM500,000 in a fake job scam.
It is learnt that the victim had befriended a man via WhatsApp who offered him a part-time job with lucrative returns.
“The contractor was also taught how to open an online account via a website to track his commission which was about 15% for each transaction.
“The catch was that he needed to pay for items purchased by a customer upfront, with his payment and commission to be transferred after the customer gets the product," he added.
Kulai OCPD Asst Comm Tan Seng Lee said that the victim had carried out a total of 22 transactions into 16 accounts between March 20 and April 28.
“He also discovered that his website account had a total of US$138,500 (RM609,400) which were supposedly his profits, but he was unable to make a withdrawal as the account had been blocked,” he said, adding that the contractor then lodged a police report after realising he had been scammed.
ACP Tan said investigations were being carried out under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
