Woman in Kuching loses RM250,000 to investment scam

KUCHING (Aug 1): A woman in her 40’s lost about RM250,000 after falling victim to an investment scam between early June and July this year.

Sarawak police commissioner Dato Mancha Ata in a statement today said the victim befriended someone on Whatsapp named Chin Hao @ Evan.

He said after befriending the suspect, the victim fell in love with the suspect before the suspect proposed to her.

In June, the suspect introduced the victim to a smartphone app called ‘J.P. Morgan’ which promised a five per cent return on investment.

The suspect also instructed the victim to buy shares and transfer money to his bank account.

“Enticed by the promised returns, the victim made a total of 23 transactions to eight different bank accounts, amounting to nearly RM250,000,” Mancha explained.

The victim only realised that she had been dupped after she did not receive any promised returns from the investment.

On that note, Mancha advised the public to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 if they think they are victims of cyber scams, phone scams, love scams, e-commerce scams, non-existant loans, and if they have made any monetary transactions to suspicious bank accounts or e-wallets.

He also advised the public to download the Whoscall app for their smartphones from the Google Play Store for Android or Apple Store for iPhones to help filter incoming calls.

He added that the police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department and developers of Whoscall have been collaborating in updating suspicious phone numbers for the app’s database.

Additionally, the public can also check the suspect’s phone number and bank accounts via the Check Scammer CCID app or at the website https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/ before making any financial transactions.