MELAKA: A female owner of a kindergarten from Bukit Piatu here lost RM1.6mil after falling victim to an investment scam.
To make matters worse, the 53-year-old victim from Ayer Keroh here also borrowed from her family members to pay the fraudster.
Melaka police chief Deputy Comm Zainol Samah said the victim got acquainted with the conman through an online correspondence on April 27.
"The fraudster who introduced himself as ‘Tan Sau Fung’ claimed he was residing in Japan and had managed to persuade the victim to invest in a United States-operated online shopping mall," he said on Friday (June 9).
DCP Zainol said the conman, who claimed to a “Taiwanese businessman” promised to pay 10% of all the items that the victim purchased when they are resold to a third party.
He said the victim deposited the sum into the bank accounts provided by the conman through 28 transactions between May 7 and May 30.
DCP Zainol said the victim then checked a website that notified her that her commission totalled about RM923,000.
However, the victim rechecked the website on May 31 and discovered it was shut down before she lodged a police report on the same day at Ayer Keroh police station.
DCP Zainol said preliminary investigation revealed that the sums were deposited into six mule accounts.
The bank accounts, he said were all local banks.
DCP Zainol added that his officers are currently tracking the conman and accomplices.
