Man loses RM540,000 to non-existent online investment scam

KUCHING (Oct 8): A pensioner in his early 60s was left RM540,000 poorer after falling victim to a non-existent online investment scam on Facebook.

Sarawak Police Commissioner Dato Mancha Ata in a statement said the victim encountered an advertisement for the fraudulent Pentheon Venture investment scheme on Facebook in mid-June.

“The victim subsequently reached out to an unidentified person promoting the scheme and continue communicating through WhatsApp.

“The victim then conducted 24 transactions to nine different bank accounts from mid-June to early September amounting to RM540,000,” he said.

He added the victim only realised he had been scammed when he could no longer reach the suspect, and no profit returns from the investment were received.

On that note, Mancha advised the public to contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 if suspected to have fallen victim to cyber scams such as phone scams, love scams, e-commerce scams, non-existant loans or if any monetary transactions to suspicious bank accounts or e-wallets have been done.

He also advised the public to download the Whoscall app from the Google Play Store or Apple Store to help in filtering incoming calls.

Mancha added the police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department and Whoscall developers have collaborated to allow phone numbers listed in the department’s system database to be marked as scammers by the app.

Additionally, the public can check the suspect’s phone number and bank accounts through the Check Scammer CCID app or by clicking here. The public can also visit the department’s official Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to get the latest information on scam modus operandi.