KULAI: A 27-year-old woman recently lost RM52,000 to an online scam.

As reported by Oriental Daily, the woman had met the man online. He claimed to come from Hong Kong and was working in Singapore.

He then introduced her to invest into cryptocurrencies. She downloaded an investment platform app where she made a RM1,000 transaction. Five days later, she successfully got back RM1,160.

Encouraged by the RM160 return, the woman felt more confident in the investment app which the man recommended and made a second investment of RM23,000.

The man then informed her that the second investment had been profitable. However when she attempted to make a withdrawal, the customer service informed her that she would first have to pay US$5,000 (RM27,000) in taxes to be able to secure her money.

She followed the instructions and transferred the money to three different local bank accounts. But two days later, she was informed that she needed to pay another US$8,000 (RM38,176.00) to complete the transaction process.

Kulai MCA chairman Chen Fan Chong said that the woman was taken aback by this request as she had asked the man about it, who asserted that he had deposited the money in question and offered to assist in resolving the issue.

However the more the woman thought about the issue, the more she realised something was amiss and got in touch with him.

The MCA Chairman also said that police records have shown that online fraud cases in Johor has losses amounting to RM26 million as of January this year.

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