Housewife loses RM71,000 in investment scam

KANGAR: A housewife suffered losses amounting to RM71,000 after being duped by a non-existent investment syndicate through a social media platform offering lucrative returns.

Perlis Police Headquarters Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Wan Aeidil Wan Abdullah said the 45-year-old victim was attracted to the investment offer after seeing the "Sifuku Millennium" advertisement on Facebook.

"The victim then transferred RM8,600 to a bank account given by the suspect on May 24," he said in a statement today.

He added that the victim then made several more cash transactions from May 24-30, adding that the woman lodged a police report yesterday after suspecting that she had been duped by the suspect.

"We are conducting an investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud and will gather information on the owner of the bank account used by the suspect for the transactions," he said.

Wan Aeidil said that according to police statistics, a total of 22 investigation papers have been opened in connection with non-existent investments from January to June 2 involving losses totalling RM211,393.16.

He advised the public not to be easily deceived by advertisements promoting investments on social media and to carry out checks via services provided by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department.

-- BERNAMA