JOHOR BARU: Two Johoreans have been made poorer by nearly half a million ringgit in total after they were duped in separate love and job scams, says the Johor deputy police chief.
Deputy Comm M. Kumar said two separate reports were lodged by the victims recently.
“In the love scam, a 69-year-old retiree got to know a woman from a foreign country through social media about a month ago,” he said, adding that the woman had expressed her hope to work in Malaysia.
“Early this month, 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 Malaysia and not declaring it.
“She then asked the man to help her by transferring money to a bank account she gave. He agreed and sent over RM242,620,” said DCP Kumar in a statement yesterday.
He added that the victim later realised he had been scammed when he could no longer contact the woman after transferring the money. He lodged a police report on Wednesday.
In the second case, DCP Kumar said a 57-year-old unemployed man was duped by scammers offering an online part-time job.
“The victim received a call through WhatsApp where the person on the line 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.
“Convinced with the offer, he followed 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 was amiss and filed a police report on Dec 21,” he said, adding that 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 transaction and to use the “Semak Mule” as well as the “Whoscall” application to avoid becoming 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.
