KUALA LUMPUR: A woman claimed that she was ‘hypnotised’ (pukau) into parting with RM56,000 in cash by her employer for the expansion of a furniture factory business.
The victim from Kajang, who only wanted to be known as Leong had applied for a furniture factory clerk job in Semenyih, Selangor. This after seeing the job advertisement in a local Chinese newspaper.
She accepted the job on April 1 as she was desperate for work and needed the money to pay for her mother’s cancer treatment.
Leong said a week after she began working, her employer known as Madam Lim said she wanted to borrow money for business investment in the furniture factory.
"What I remember is that Madam Lim uttered sweet sentences into my ears, making me obey all wishes without my knowledge.
"I handed all the money through three online money transfer transactions to a bank account using another person's name between April 9 and April 20," she said at a press conference at the MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau here.
“When I became aware, I realised I had become a victim of fraud and Madam Lim could not be reached or found.
Leong claimed that the money was her mother’s savings and was placed in her account for safekeeping.
"The money was supposed to cover the cost of my mother’s breast cancer chemotherapy treatment.
On May 28, Leong and two other colleagues arrived at their officer in the furniture factory at 2pm to find that it had been locked-up.
They tried to contact the woman several times but it was fruitless.
Leong claimed that her two other colleagues were also victims of the fraudulent scam and had paid Madam Lim RM50,000 which had been borrowed from loan sharks.
Subsequently, she lodged a police report at the Kajang District Police Headquarters on May 17 before lodging a complaint at the MCA Complaints Bureau today.
MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau chairman, Datuk Seri Michael Chong, urged all to be careful when accepting any job, lest they become victims of fraudsters.
"These include employers who offer easy work such as buying goods abroad or getting paid to open a bank account.
"It's usually headed by credit card fraud syndicates, love scams and so on," he said.