SHAH ALAM: A company manager has fallen victim to an online investment scam, losing RM2.65 million after being lured by a non-existent scheme advertised on Facebook. The 54-year-old man was initially attracted to an ad on the social media platform, which led him to a WhatsApp conversation with an individual claiming to be an investment instructor named “Wendy Lim.”
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan revealed that the victim was added to a WhatsApp group where he followed the scheme for two months. During this period, he received an initial return of RM100,000, which boosted his confidence and led him to transfer a total of RM2.65 million across 44 transactions to nine different bank accounts. These transfers were made after he was shown a purported profit of nearly RM8 million on the platform.
However, when the victim attempted to withdraw the supposed profit, he was told to pay several tax fees to facilitate the process. Suspecting something was wrong, he eventually reported the matter to the police.
In a separate case, a 69-year-old German national in Sepang lost over RM3 million in an online scam where the victim was deceived by individuals pretending to be from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). The scam involved instructions to open a bank account to receive a large sum of money, with demands for tax payments before the funds could be accessed. The victim made 25 transfers amounting to RM3.09 million before realising he had been defrauded.
Police have launched investigations into both cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which deals with cheating and dishonesty.–BERNAMA
