KUCHING, May 31: A 66-year-old woman turned victim to an investment scam, losing RM1.5 million here, recently.
Sarawak Commissioner of Police Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the victim, a real estate agency director in Kuching, met a man on Facebook in April and was infatuated with him after a week knowing each other.
“The suspect claimed to be a Singaporean working in Hong Kong managed to influence the victim to invest in a business on TikTok.
“The victim was instructed to make a total of 185 payment transactions to 21 different bank accounts totalling to RM1.5 million, promising her a nine percent return from the investment,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Azman pointed out that various transactions were made between April 14 and May 29, to which the victim only realizsd that she was scammed after the suspect insisted that she invests more money in the ‘business’.
Meanwhile, a total of 93 scam cases from January 1 until May 30 this year, an increase of 19 cases compared to the same period last year.
“The scam cases in 2023 involved a total number of losses amounting to RM8.2 million.
“For investment scams, the police have carried out 25 arrests this year as compared to only 15 arrests last year,” he added.
Azman advised the public to be weary of making online payment to anyone who they do not recognize or have met online recently.
For those who suspect that they have been scammed, they can call the National Scam Response Centre at 997. The public can also check the related bank account’s number on CCID’s portal at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/. -TVS
