KUALA LUMPUR: The bait was free cooking lessons, and the trap was an investment opportunity for extra income.
But before she could sharpen her culinary skills, a 39-year-old housewife found herself completely "cooked" when she paid a hefty bill – RM300,000, lost to an online scam.
The woman, who wanted to be known only as Khoo, said she spotted an invitation to join a cookery group on Facebook in September and signed up.
Later, she said she was added to a WhatsApp group where several sweet-talking individuals shared cookery videos and promoted several supposedly successful business models for housewives to earn an income.
ALSO READ: Cane scammers, govt urged
"I was really drawn to it and decided to sign up," she told a press conference organised by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong at Wisma MCA here on Friday (Jan 9).
"However, strangely, I was instructed by the individuals who claimed to be the bosses of the company not to share details about the group with anyone, as they may face legal action.
"I was uncomfortable with this arrangement, but I still decided to invest in their scheme."
She said her task was to search for low-priced tickets for air travel and events with the help of an artificial intelligence application she was told to download before reselling them at a profit.
ALSO READ: Chong surprised many still falling for fake titles scams
Between Nov 1 and 12, Khoo wired funds totalling RM300,000 as capital for the so-called moneymaker and performed her tasks as instructed.
Trouble surfaced when she tried to withdraw her earnings.
Instead of receiving her money, she was given excuses and told to make further payments to "process" the withdrawal.
"The application showed I had made profits of about RM3mil, but several technical glitches occurred within the next few days before I was contacted and asked to deposit RM300,000 more if I wanted to withdraw the profits.
"I tried reaching out to other members of the group, but they had all vanished," she said.
Realising she had been scammed, Khoo lodged a police report on Nov 23.
ALSO READ: 10 more companies linked to scams added into SemakMule database, say cops
Still, the scammers were not done. They continued calling her from various numbers, but she blocked them.
Chong warned social media users to be wary as scam syndicates are constantly refining their tactics and use creative ploys to ensnare unsuspecting victims.
He said that over the past two years, about 50 scam cases with losses amounting to RM40mil had been brought to his department.
In a separate case, a 55-year-old manager revealed how he was cleaned out of his savings of RM1.6mil after falling for a stock investment scam.
The man, who identified himself only as James, said he received a WhatsApp message in November from an individual claiming to represent a Singaporean investment company.
He said a woman later contacted him and shared stock investment tips, through which he made a small profit.
ALSO READ: Financial crime battleground in 2026
"Then, I was offered the chance to invest in an initial public offering (IPO) of a China-based company.
"I was instructed to download an application and transferred RM1.6mil in 16 transactions.
"Later, the app showed that I had made a handsome profit and my balance was RM7mil. I tried withdrawing the sum last month, but I was asked to bank in more funds to do so," James said.
On learning he had been hoodwinked by scammers, he made a police report.
James said he then learnt that dozens of other victims had lost money to the same syndicate, with the highest single loss by an individual totalling RM6mil.
Department deputy chief Ivan Tan urged the government, especially the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, to take swift action against suspicious advertisements and notices on social media platforms.
