Online investment: Company manager reports losing almost RM80,000

SIBU: A company manager in his 40’s here reported losing RM79,572 after being swindled in an online investment offer which was apparently operating from Singapore.

The victim was initially interested in the investment upon seeing an advertised link on Instagram on Sept 3 before being contacted by an agent of an investment management company in Singapore named Lily Tan who gave him the link, https:/live.acm1v.com/rk/VIP3 through WhatsApp.

“The link was given for the purpose of online presence and to obtain points from the company,” said Sibu police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili in a statement here today.

The victim was ordered to download the FTSE VIP application to facilitate entering bonus points and a soon as the victim registered, he received 13 bonus points worth RM542.

After receiving sufficient the bonus points, the victim contacted the company manager on Oct 24 for the next investment level to obtain more bonus points.

The victim was later given to two bank account numbers in the name of the company before making 11 transactions from Oct 24 to Nov 20 amounting to RM94,600 and received a return of RM15,028.

“On Nov 22, the victim received a WhatsApp message from the suspect who asked him to pay about RM50,000 for the purpose of raising his investment.

However, the victim began to to suspect the company and checked with CCID site and found the bank account numbers have police reports,” said Zulkifli.

According to him, the victim felt cheated and lodged a police report over the loss with the Sibu Commercial CID yesterday.

Zulkipli advises the public to first check with the National Scam Response Center (NSRC) at 997 or follow the Facebook page @CyberCrimeAlertRMP @JSJKPDRM before making any online investment to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

In addition, the public is advised to be careful with offers of high profits or returns and to check the status of an investment with Bank Negara Malaysia first so as not to be deceived, in addition to checking the verification of bank accounts and suspicious phone numbers via the website http://ccid .rmp.gov.my/semakmule. - Bernama