Contractor loses over RM300,000 in online investment scam

SEREMBAN: A contractor claimed to have lost RM303,084 after being tricked into investing in a non-existent online investment scheme introduced to him by someone on social media he befriended two months ago.

Negeri Sembilan Commercial Crime Investigation Department head, Supt Aibee Abd Ghani, said that the 54-year-old man claimed to have dealt with a woman known as 'Lilina Lim' through Facebook on Sept 24, which was later followed up with conversations through WhatsApp.

According to the victim, he was asked by 'Lilina Lim' to register at a link, apart from him having to pay more to obtain VIP status if he wanted to get the money faster.

"Our initial investigations revealed that the victim believed in the offer promised and made payments in instalments into three different accounts from Oct 15 to 31, totalling RM303,084.

"However, until today the victim said he did not make any profit and the women involved remained silent after the payments were made," he said in a statement today.

Aibee said that the woman claimed to be a police officer under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), stating that the victim had committed an offence under the said law and he would have to make another payment if he wanted his money back.

Aibee said that the victim soon realised he was being duped and lodged a police report at the Rahang police station yesterday, and the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, an accountant at a private firm here claimed to have lost more than RM60,000 after being deceived by a person on Facebook regarding a part-time job as a supervisor at an online shopping platform.

The 28 year-old man claimed to have received a link promoting the goods and was asked to contact customer service to secure the job, apart from depositing money as registration and commission based on the items ordered.

"The victim then made three transactions into several bank accounts from Oct 29 until yesterday, amounting to RM67,069. However, until today, the victim has not received any response regarding the job," he said.

The victim then realised that he had been cheated and lodged a police report at the nearest police station and the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

-- BERNAMA