SHAH ALAM: Two senior citizens suffered losses totalling over RM5 million after falling victim to non-existent investment schemes promoted on Facebook.
Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said in the first case, a 77-year-old local man began investing in a scheme known as Efa Trade, which promised lucrative returns, at the end of November last year.
He said the private sector retiree, seeking quick returns, was convinced to invest in 27 stock counters of Efa Trade, an international investment company based in Singapore.
For the investment, the victim was asked to make 15 transactions involving three different bank accounts, totalling RM3.21 million.
“At the end of January, Efa Trade informed investors that the company would be closing and required each investor to pay a 15 per cent commission on their profits to withdraw their earnings.
“The company also showed the victim that his investment had reached RM2 million in the Efa Pro application,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Hussein said the victim realised he had been scammed when he discovered that the investment documents provided were fake and subsequently lodged a police report.
In another case, Hussein said a 70-year-old local man lost RM2.21 million after falling victim to a non-existent online cryptocurrency investment.
He said investigations revealed that the victim had befriended a local man through Facebook, who offered cryptocurrency investments in October last year, before the retiree was added to the WhatsApp group ‘UVKXE’.
He said the victim, lured by the promise of high returns, joined the investment and made 18 transactions totalling RM2,210,136 but never received any profits before lodging a police report.
Hussein said police have opened investigation papers, and both cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He urged the public to remain vigilant against any investment offers on social media platforms promising unreasonable returns, especially those involving financial or investment applications not approved by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) or the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
