KUCHING Sept 3 — A female insurance agent here was made RM140,000 poorer after she fell victim to an online part-time job scam last month.

Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri in a statement last night said the victim, who is in her 30’s, was added into a group called CMC 206 on WhatsApp and GIC Pre-Order Group 10500 on Telegram.

"The victim was offered a part-time job as a subscriber of YouTube channels by a suspect who called himself Gerry. She was promised between incentives of between RM8.90 and RM219.80 for subscribing to the channels.

"The victim was then told to register via a link that was given to her on Telegram,” he added.

Mohd Azman said after the registration, the victim made nine online bank transfers to five different bank accounts totalling to RM140,000.

The victim had only received RM300 as incentives from the suspect, he added.

"The victim only realised that she was scammed after she did receive any further incentives from the suspect,” he said, adding that a police report was lodged on Sept 1.

Meanwhile, Mohd Azman advised the public not to entertain calls or messages from strangers and to inform their family members should they receive such calls or messages.

"The public are also advised to contact the nearest police station or bank to confirm anything that was mentioned by the caller,” he said.

He added the public should never share their personal banking details with strangers and must immediately call the National Scam Response Centre on 997 if they feel that they have been scammed.

Further information on the modus operandi of scammers can be found at http://semakmule.rmp.gov.my or by visiting the Commercial Crime Investigation Department’s Facebook page. — Borneo Post