IPOH: A businesswoman from Taman Rasi Jaya in Menglembu here has fallen victim to a non-existent gold investment scam involving over RM6.2 million.
Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the 61-year-old woman lodged a police report yesterday after she realised she had been cheated.
"Initial investigation found that on Oct 14, last year while the victim was at her home, she had browsed an investment page on Facebook and pressed a link to a suspicious phone number in the WhatsApp application.
"The victim's phone number was then added into different WhatsApp groups for investment in the gold market," he said in a statement today.
Mohd Yusri said since then, the victim had made a total of 32 transactions into 11 different bank accounts totalling RM6.2 million.
"The victim only realised she was deceived by the scammer when she wanted to withdraw her investment amounting to RM2.2 million.
"The scammer did not respond to her and the investment platform was inaccessible," he said adding that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Mohd Yusri added that the public needs to be aware of investment offers on social media platforms, especially through Facebook platforms that are not approved by Bank Negara Malaysia or the Securities Commission.
"In this matter, call 997 to reach out to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) to report online financial scams," he said.