Ipoh insurance agent loses RM336,000 to fake investment scheme

IPOH: An insurance agent lost about RM336,000 after falling victim to a non-existent investment scheme.

The 46-year-old man from Taman Pari here is said to have been cheated by a woman named “Eva” he met on Facebook.

Perak police chief Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the victim had on Oct 15 got in contact with Eva on Facebook.

“The woman is said to be an administrator for a WhatsApp group called ‘Global Financial Live Academy Class’,” he said in a statement on Thursday (dec 21).

“The woman had cheated the victim into investing via an app called ‘Bain Online’,” he said.

Comm Mohd Yusri said the victim had between Oct 19 and Dec 12 transferred RM336,000 over 12 transactions into five separate bank accounts.

“When the victim wanted to withdraw some of the earnings, he was asked by Eva to pay a commission of about RM57,400 to get the money.

“It was then that the victim became aware that he had been cheated,” he said, adding that the case was currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Comm Mohd Yusri said the people were reminded to be careful of any investment offers on social media that promise unbelievable returns, especially through financial or investment apps that are not approved by Bank Negara Malaysia or the Security Commissions.

He said the people could contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 if they fell victim to a non-existent investment scheme and had just made some transactions into mule accounts.

“Any inquiries about scams can be made with the police commercial crime investigation department infoline at 013-211 1222 on WhatsApp between 8am and 8pm.

“For further information on the latest cheating trend, visit www.facebook.com/jsjkpdrm or www.facebook.com/cybercrimealertrmp,” he said.

“The people can also check suspicious bank accounts or telephone numbers at https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my,” he added.