KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — An oil-and-gas technician in Johor Baru was defrauded of over RM900,000 by online scammers offering him rapid and massive investment returns, according to state police.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar said the scammers first contacted the victim via WhatsApp while the latter was working in Iraq back in August.

"The victim said he was promised high profits that would be paid within an hour. Enticed with the offer, he downloaded an application as directed and registered through it,” Kumar said in a statement today.

The man also attended "online classes” that purported to show how the investment worked, after which he made several deposits into the various bank accounts provided by the scammers.

In total, the victim said he deposited RM908,305 that the investment "application” showed as generating RM8 million in profit.

The man realised that he was being defrauded when he was told to pay RM100,000 as a deposit to withdraw the "profit”.

Kumar said an investigation has been opened under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, before warning the public to be wary of all offers online promising quick or high returns.

Malaysians are losing a total of US$12.8 billion (RM54 billion) to scams a year, the equivalent to 3 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to trust tech company Gogolook.