Accounts Clerk Loses Over RM500,000 In Savings To Investment Scam

JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- An accounts clerk lost RM527,681.17 after falling victim to a non-existent investment scheme.

Johor Bahru Selatan police chief ACP Raub Selamat said the 46-year-old woman received a call from a man offering a betting-based investment game, and the returns of up to five per cent of the capital were withdrawn at about 2.30 pm on June 12 in Taman Desa Tebrau.

He added that the victim had registered via a link given by the suspect and made her first cash transaction of RM10,000 before receiving profits of RM1,000 after trying out the game twice.

"Between July 14 and Sept 4, she made several cash transactions into nine different accounts totalling  RM527,681.17

"The victim was then asked to make additional payments, purportedly for the profits to be withdrawn before she realised that she had been duped. She lodged a police report on Sept 12,” he said in a statement today.

Raub said preliminary investigations found that the money she invested was from her own savings.

A check via the Commercial Crime Intelligence System (CCIS) found that the phone number used by the suspect had no record of fraud, but was suspected of being misused for fraudulent purposes.

"The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating,” he said.

He urged the public to be vigilant when receiving investment offers through social media or WhatsApp, and to check via the official Semak Mule portal (https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my) before making any payments.

He also reminded the public not to be easily attracted to promises of lucrative returns in the short term, and to immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to report any fraud activities.

-- BERNAMA