JEMPOL: A special officer to an assemblyman ended up losing thousands of ringgit after applying for an online loan which turned out to be a scam in Bahau here on Tuesday.
The 52-year-old officer who was having financial problems had come across an advertiser offering loans on the Instagram application.
Jempol police chief Supt Hoo Chang Hook said today that the victim was referred to two “agents” whom he communicated through the WhatsApp application and applied for a loan.
He said the agents told the victim that “he did not qualify for a loan as he had a poor credit score with banks.”
Hoo said the agents then told the victim that in order to approve his loan application, he was required to make several payments apparently to “settle taxes and manage his bank accounts”
He said the man did as he was told and deposited over RM9,300 in six transactions to three bank accounts given to him by the scammers.
“When they demanded for more payments, the victim became suspicious. He never received the loan he applied for and on realising he had been conned, he lodged a police report on Wednesday. We have commenced investigations on the case.” Hoo said.
In a separate case, an 18-year-old student from Felda Raja Alias 4, Bandar Seri Jempol here lost almost RM2,000 to a scammer after responding to an advertisement on the sale of a laptop computer she spotted in Instagram.
Hoo said the teenager had contacted the seller on Feb 2 and was told that she would receive the computer within two days after making full payment.
He said the following day, she made part payment and the rest of it about a week later.
Hoo said after waiting for more than a month for the computer she never received and on finding the seller no longer reachable, the student lodged a police report on Wednesday.
