PETALING JAYA: A businessman in Johor Bahru lost over RM700,000 after falling victim to an online part-time job offer.

Johor police chief Commissioner M Kumar said that the man lodged a police report on Thursday, Harian Metro reported.

The 57-year-old communicated with the suspect on the Messenger application back in April this year - promoting a part time job offer online.

The victim then migrated to WhatsApp to get more information about the job, enticed by the profits promised to be registered on the website provided to carry out the “tasks” given by the suspect, involving purchases of cosmetic and sport products, Kumar said.

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“The victim followed the suspect’s instructions and performed the “tasks” as well as transferring payments amounting to RM267,000 to a bank account,” he was quoted as saying.

Furthermore, the businessman said the website he downloaded displayed his profits of RM70,000 and wanted to withdraw said profits however, the suspect asked him make additional payments which then came up to a grand total of RM733,597.

Kumar added that the victim suspected he was deceived by the suspect as he did not receive any returns whether in terms of the principal amount or the profits said to be successfully generated despite his multiple payments amounting to large amounts.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

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