Sibu clerk loses RM240,000 to online investment scam

SIBU (Dec 30): A female clerk in her 50s lost RM240,000 to an online investment scam.

Sarawak Police Commissioner Dato Mancha Ata said on Dec 28, the victim received a WhatsApp message from the fraudster, who introduced herself as Chow Yin Mei, who was promoting stock investment via the FTSE VIP app.

He said the fraudster asked the victim to download said app before explaining to the victim about the investment package offer as well as a 200-350 per cent profit.

“This was to convince the victim to become interested in making the investment through the app.

“The victim then made 15 online money transfer transactions totalling RM240,000 to three bank accounts under different companies from the end of November to the end of December,” he said in a statement.

Mancha said the victim only realised she had been duped when she did not receive the promised profit before lodging the police report.

He said the case will be investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

As a preventative measure, he advised the public the check first before making any investments online to avoid become a victim of fraud.

In addition, he urged the public to be careful with offers of profit or high returns and to check the status of an investment with Bank Negara Malaysia first to avoid being deceived.

Any information can be referred to the National Scam Response Centre at 997 or by following the Facebook page at CyberCrimeAlertMP@JSJKPDRM.