Man, woman lose RM97,406 in separate cases of online scams in Sibu

SIBU (Oct 15): A local man and woman suffered a combined loss of RM97,406 to online scammers in two separate cases received by the police on Monday.

According to Sibu police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili, the first victim, an unemployed man in his 50s, lost RM63,680 to a non-existent Bitcoin investment scheme advertised through Facebook.

“The victim contacted a suspect named Calvin, who explained about the investment scheme, and was promised he would earn a high profit within six hours. The victim became interested and agreed to make an investment payment into bank accounts provided by the suspect.

“The victim then transferred RM63,680 into five different bank accounts in 12 transactions through a cash deposit machine. Despite the amount, he was instructed to make another payment in order to obtain the investment profit,” he said.

Zulkipli said the suspect also informed the victim to wait three days for the money to be deposited into his bank account.

After the three days, the victim contacted the suspect again.

“The suspect told him to pay a certain amount for him to receive the profit. As of the time the report was made, the victim still did not receive any profits as promised,” he said.

In the second case, Zulkipli said a private sector worker in her 30s lost RM33,726 to a non-existent online part-time job.

He said the victim saw a part-time job vacancy advertisement on Facebook earlier this month, and contacted a suspect named Winnie through WhatsApp to get further information.

“She became interested, and the suspect instructed her to complete a few tasks by clicking on the provided link where commission would be given for every completed task.

“The suspect also told the victim to make payment in order to earn more commission, and the victim then made six financial transactions totalling RM33,726 into six different bank accounts,” he said.

Zulkipli said the suspect still demanded money from the victim even after she had made the transactions and she later found her number was blocked by the suspect after she tried to contact her.

Both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

He advised the public to always check the status of investment schemes, especially those offering high returns or profits with Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission.

He also said the public should not be easily duped by job vacancies advertised on social media.

For more information, call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 or follow @CyberCrimeAlertRMP or @JSJKPDRM on Facebook. To verify bank accounts or telephone numbers, go to website http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/.