JOHOR BARU: A company manager has lost over RM400,000 after falling prey to an investment scam here.
Seri Alam OCPD Supt Mohd Sohaimi Ishak said that the police received a report from the 38-year-old man on Tuesday (Jan 23), two days after he made his last transaction to the scammers.
“The victim was lured into joining an online business selling health products where he was promised an 8% commission for each purchase made.
“Convinced by the attractive offer, the victim then made a total of 43 transactions to five different bank accounts between Dec 6, 2023, and Jan 21 totalling up to RM422,173.
“The scammers told him that the money was needed to purchase the health products and that he would get them back, along with his commission, later on,” he said in a statement here.
Supt Sohaimi said that the victim later attempted to get his money back but was not successful.
“He asked the suspect for the money and the commission that was promised but was met with all kinds of excuses.
“In fact, he was told to make more payments, which triggered alarm bells, prompting him to make a police report as he realised that he had been duped,” he said.
He said that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and that the investigation will also look into the involvement of account mules.
“We urge the public not to fall easily for any investments that promise high returns and to use services provided by the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) such as the National Scam Response Centre, CCID Infoline, Semak Mule and the department's Facebook page to know more about commercial crimes before making any transactions,” he said.
