IPOH, July 17 — A trader incurred a loss of RM870,000 after being duped in a cryptocurrency investment scam.

Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the Kerian district police headquarters received a report on the matter from a 54-year-old man at 11.15pm yesterday.

He said the victim was contacted by a woman through the WhatsApp application on June 24 in which she assured the victim that she had made a huge profit investing in cryptocurrency.

He said as a result of being convinced by what the suspect said, the victim started investing by putting money into the cryptocurrency application provided by the suspect.

"Initially, the victim invested a total of RM5,000 and managed to recover the capital along with the profit. Later, the suspect asked the victim to make a larger investment to get a higher profit,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Yusri said the victim was then duped into making more online transactions as well as transfers at the bank counter involving a total of RM870,000, with the victim being promised a profit of RM1.5 million.

He said the victim then asked the suspect to make a withdrawal but various reasons were given by the suspect and the victim was also asked to pay a processing fee amounting to 30 per cent of the total withdrawal.

"The victim has until now not received any profit from the investment. He then realised that he had been duped and lodged a police report,” Mohd Yusri said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Mohd Yusri has advised the public not to be easily deceived by various non-existent investment schemes, and to only register on the right platforms registered with Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Securities Commission (SC).

"The public should also seek financial advice from registered agents and never trust investments that offer lucrative returns in a short period of time,” he added. — Bernama