KOTA TINGGI: A businesswoman has lost over RM290,000 after she was duped into taking a part-time online job.
Kota Tinggi OCPD Superintendent Yusof Othman said the 56-year-old victim came across a part-time job offer on Instagram, which involved boosting the ratings of pictures.
“She was contacted by a female suspect who offered her the job.
“The suspect offered a task to buy pictures priced between RM1,000 and RM1,600, promising a 20% commission for every picture she purchased,” he said in a statement on Sunday (Nov 16).
Supt Yusof said the victim, excited by the commission, agreed to take on the part-time role.
“She was added into a Telegram group chat to complete the picture-rating tasks by purchasing the images provided by the suspect, accumulating a total of RM290,627.
"From that amount, she was promised a commission of RM58,000,” he said.
The superintendent added that the victim filed a police report on Friday (Nov 14) after realising the scam.
"She was unable to withdraw the promised commission and was instead asked by the suspect to deposit an additional RM138,646 as a condition to release the payment.
“This case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code,” he said.
He advised the public to be cautious of job offers that are unregistered or promise unusually high returns in a short time.
He also explained that the public can get information on the latest commercial crime modus operandi by following the official social media pages of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
“People are urged to check account numbers before making any transactions with unknown parties using online verification services and to download apps such as Whoscall to reduce the risk of falling victim to scams.
“If you become a victim of fraud, contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 immediately as an initial step to stop the flow of money from the suspect’s account,” he said.
