File photo for illustration purposes
MIRI (June 2): The police have received two separate reports involving online scam syndicates that collectively resulted in losses of more than RM908,000, involving fraudulent investment and part-time job schemes.
Miri district police chief ACP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said both reports were lodged by local men in their early 50s who were lured by promises of lucrative returns and easy income through online platforms.
In the first case, reported on May 30, the victim lost RM511,406 after being deceived by a non-existent online investment scheme. Investigations revealed that the victim was approached via WhatsApp on March 18 and persuaded to invest in a platform that promised high returns within a short period.
Believing the offers to be genuine, the victim carried out 25 transactions to several bank accounts between April 1 and May 24.
“However, despite repeated payments and promises of substantial profits, he never received any returns. Instead, he was continuously asked to make additional payments under various pretexts before eventually realising he had fallen victim to a scam,” he said.
In the second case, reported on June 1, another victim suffered losses amounting to RM396,850 after being duped by a fraudulent online part-time job scheme operated through WhatsApp and an e-commerce platform.
The victim was contacted by an individual identifying himself as ‘Lim’, who offered him an opportunity to earn income by managing customer purchase orders online.
He was promised a 10 per cent commission for each completed transaction and was instructed to make advance payments purportedly required for processing and delivering goods to customers.
Throughout the scheme, the victim was directed to transfer money to multiple bank accounts.
Although profits appeared to accumulate in the online system, he was never able to withdraw any earnings and was repeatedly asked to make further payments.
The losses involved both his personal savings and money borrowed from family members.
Mohd Farhan said both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He warned that such scams commonly operate under the guise of investment opportunities, task scams, merchant scams or e-commerce schemes, where victims are enticed with promises of high profits or commissions. In reality, the profits displayed on the platforms are controlled by syndicates and cannot be withdrawn.
He advised the public to exercise caution when approached with investment opportunities of job offers that guarantee unusually high returns within a short period.
Members of the public are encouraged to verify the legitimacy of investment schemes through Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia, while suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts can be checked through the CCID Check Scammers service and the Semak Mule portal before making any financial transaction.
Victims who have recently transferred money to suspected scam accounts are urged to immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to improve the chances of recovering their funds.
