02-05-2025
Sales assistant loses RM100,000 to bogus FB mango seller
KUANTAN: Tempted to purchase Harum Manis mangoes through Facebook, a 58-year-old sales assistant ended up losing RM100,000 of her hard-earned savings to scammers.
The fraudsters had tricked the woman into downloading a link, which had allowed them to access her bank account and make unauthorised transactions.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the woman was attracted by the Facebook advertisement selling the mangoes.
"She made the payment for the purchase through a link, but the payment did not go through. The following day, she received a text message informing that her bank account had been blocked.
"The woman was given another link to activate her bank account and she duly followed all the instructions. Some time later, she realised that money was missing from her bank account," he said in a statement.
Yahaya said investigations revealed that the culprits had made 10 transactions from her bank account, resulting in losses amounting RM100,000.
In a separate case, Yahaya said a 50-year-old trader lost RM107,000 after falling victim to a Facebook investment scheme early this year.
Yahaya said the victim had spotted the investment scheme advertised on Facebook on Jan 21 this year and he was included into a WhatsApp group.
"The trader was told to download an application before he transferred RM107,000 into four bank accounts to invest in the scheme. Later, he was informed that he had already earned RM449,875.
"However, when the victim wanted to withdraw the money, the agent told him to pay RM30,000 tax. The victim realised that he had been cheated and lodged a police report."
Yahaya urged the public to always check on before making any online cash transactions.
