Two Men Lose Over RM470,000 To Investment And Phone Scams

IPOH, July 22 (Bernama) -- Two men have lost a total of RM474,212.58 after falling victim to a non-existent investment scheme and a phone scam, according to police.

Ipoh police chief ACP Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the victims, aged 61 and 56, lodged their reports on Sunday.

“The first victim, a site supervisor, lost RM307,315 after being duped by the ‘KKR Investment’ advertisement on Facebook promising between 10 and 20 per cent returns in a short time.

“Enticed by the offer, the supervisor made 14 transactions to six different bank accounts between April and July, only to realise he had been scammed when he was asked to make additional payments supposedly for profit withdrawal,” he said in a statement today.

He said in the second case, a 56-year-old former factory worker lost RM166,897.58 after receiving a call from an individual posing as a Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officer in June.

Abang Zainal Abidin said the individual also claimed the man’s phone number was linked to illegal moneylending activities ('ah long') and urged him to lodge a police report.

“The victim was then connected to another individual posing as a police officer from Bukit Aman, who instructed him to transfer money from his Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account to a company account for investigation purposes.

“The fund transfer was made on July 7 before the victim realised he had been duped and lodged a police report,” he said.

Abang Zainal advised the public to be more cautious of investment offers that promise high returns in a short period and not to trust unsolicited phone calls from unknown individuals.

-- BERNAMA