JOHOR BARU, Jan 14 — A local woman lost more than half a million ringgit after allegedly falling victim to a non-existent investment scheme advertised on Facebook.

Batu Pahat district police chief ACP Ismail Dollah said the 54-year-old woman claimed to have communicated with a woman from China via WhatsApp after clicking on a Facebook link promoting the investment offer in October last year.

The victim was then told to download an application and provide her details, such as name, ID card number and bank information, for registration purposes.

"The victim, who was interested, deposited a total of RM314,000 to three different company bank accounts in stages.

"Upon checking the application, the victim found that she had gained a profit of RM2.03 million. However, she was asked to pay RM240,000 if she wanted to withdraw the funds,” he said in a statement today.

Ismail said the victim had not received any profits to date, as the foreign woman claimed that her account was involved in a money laundering case, preventing the withdrawal of the profits.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. — Bernama