JOHOR BAHRU: A businessman in Johor lost more than RM700,000 after falling for a non-existent online part-time job.
Johor police chief M. Kumar said the 57-year-old victim lodged a police report yesterday, claiming that an individual offered him the job on April 22.
“The individual sent a message on Messenger (Facebook) promoting a part-time job that promised profits.
“The man was then instructed to register on a website and given ‘tasks’ to earn profits through the purchase of sports and cosmetic goods, and he had to make payments to a bank account as instructed, amounting to RM267,000,“ he said in a statement today.
However, the man realised he was being scammed when he did not receive any profits after making payments totalling RM733,597.
In a separate case, Kumar said an assistant manager of a company lost RM472,200 after falling victim to a stock investment scam.
He said the 41-year-old man, who filed a police report on June 13, claimed that he had communicated with an individual via WhatsApp on April 3 after being attracted by an investment advertisement on the purchase of shares of a foreign college.
“The man was promised substantial profits and had made payments into several bank accounts. However, he suspected a scam when the profit amounting to RM3.7 million displayed via the investment application could not be obtained, and the individual could no longer be contacted,“ he said.
He said both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
