JOHOR BARU: Two men have lost almost half a million ringgit to love and job scams here, says Johor deputy police chief Deputy Comm M. Kumar.
“In the love scam case, a 69-year-old retiree got to know a woman from a foreign country through social media about a month ago.
"The suspect also expressed her hope to work in Malaysia,” he said.
DCP Kumar said that in early December, the victim received a call from the woman who claimed that the Immigration Department had arrested her for bringing a large sum of money into the country and not declaring it.
“She then asked the man to help her by transferring money to a bank account she gave. He complied and sent over RM242,620,” he said in a statement on Thursday (Dec 28).
He added that the victim later realised he had been scammed when he could no longer contact the woman after transferring the money.
In the other case, DCP Kumar said a 57-year-old unemployed man was duped by scammers offering an online part-time job.
“He received a call through WhatsApp where the caller offered him an online job that promised high and quick returns.
"He was told that he only needed to upload some videos and click ‘like’ on the links that were given to him,” said DCP Kumar.
He said the man was convinced and as such obeyed all of the instructions given, including banking in a sum of RM252,900 to several bank accounts.
“He did not get his money back and was instead asked to transfer more money. That was when he suspected something amiss and filed a police report,” he said.
He said police received the reports from the two scam victims on Dec 21 and Wednesday (Dec 27).
Both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
DCP Kumar reminded the public to be careful when conducting any transactions and to use the "Semak Mule" as well as the "Whoscall" applications to avoid being scam victims.
Those who have fallen for a scam should also call the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 as soon as possible as an early step to block the transfer of money into the suspect’s bank account.
