MIRI, March 17 — A woman in her 40s here was made RM37,400 poorer after falling victim to an online job scam recently.
Miri Police Chief ACP Alexson Naga Chabu said the Miri District Commercial Crime Investigation Division received a report from the victim on Friday.
He said the victim, who is a private sector employee, started her online part-time work after being added into a WhatsApp group known as ‘F35C19 Booking Promotion’.
“The job required her to click on ‘like’ and ‘follow’ buttons on a booking.com website given by the suspect in order to get a commission,” he said in a press statement.
Alexson said the victim was subsequently instructed to deal with the suspect through Telegram.
“The victim was also asked to make payment first before starting any assignments given by the suspect with an assurance that she would receive double the amount that she had paid,” he added.
Alexson said the victim made five transactions amounting to RM37,400 into a third-party account provided by the suspect.
“The victim only realised that she had been scammed after failing to receive any commission that was promised and when the suspect kept demanding for more money,” he said, a police report was lodged by the victim on Friday,
In another case, a man in his 20s here lost RM8,100 after falling victim to a non-existent loan scam.
Alexson said police received a police report on the incident on Friday.
“The victim came across an advertisement by a financial institution on Instagram offering loans. He then contacted the suspect to apply for a RM30,000 loan.”
He said the then made five online transactions totalling RM8,100 as payments for loan processing, preliminary fees, verification fees and stamp duty to a third-party account.
“The victim only realised that he had been deceived after he did not receive the amount applied for and when the suspect demanded for him to make more payments for various reasons.
Alexson said both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. — The Borneo Post
