Thinking that she was going to make a fortune by joining a share investment scheme, an elderly retiree instead found herself reeling from a massive loss of RM4 million instead.
According to NST, the victim had first come across the scheme via an advertisement on Facebook before everything took a turn for the worse.
74yo M’sian retiree cheated of RM4mil in investment scam
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan told the English daily that the victim, who formerly worked in the private sector, was duped into investing in a scheme known as PVTCMax Investment in the middle of November last year.
She was subsequently added into a WhatsApp group managed by two individuals known as Alya and Christopher, who falsely promised daily returns of between eight to 10%.
The victim was also instructed to make 62 payments into 10 different bank accounts, which amounted to RM4 million.
When she tried withdrawing the promised profits but was told to make more payments in order to do so, the victim finally realised it was all a sham.
The case is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, which carries a jail term not more than 10 years, along with a whipping and fine upon conviction.
Hussein called upon the public to always be on guard against investment offers on social media platforms that promised unrealistic returns, particularly through financial or investment applications not vetted by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) or the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
Should anyone receive suspicious calls or fraudulent investments, they are encouraged to contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 for verification or to lodge complaints.
Not too long ago, a ‘Datuk’ lost a whopping RM27 million to a crypto investment scam:
