KUANTAN: A farmer lost RM132,515 to a syndicate offering non-existent part time jobs which offered lucrative returns.
Pahang police chief, Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman, said the 27-year-old had initially been offered a payment of RM15 for an online assignment which only required the victim to like, follow and comment on every TikTok message given to him through WhatsApp on Tuesday (November 7).
"After carrying out the 'assignment' the victim was asked to join a group on Telegram and received a payment of RM45. The victim was than asked by the admin of the group to pay RM200 before another job can be assigned," he said in a statement today (November 10).
Yahaya said after the victim had paid RM200 and completed the job assigned to him, he was paid RM240, thus the victim's trust in the group increased.
"The victim continued to carry out several transactions so that he would receive better returns. He later entangled himself in bigger transactions by using his savings and retorted to borrowing money from friends before realising he was cheated to a tune of RM132,515," he said.
Upon realising that he was cheated, the victim lodged a report at the Cameron Highlands police station yesterday (November 9) and the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Meanwhile, Yahaya advised members of the public to not be easily convinced by job offers, including part-time jobs that offered an easy passage to earning money, on social media. --BERNAMA