21-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Over half a million gone: Clerk duped by Facebook scam
KUANTAN: A clerk's dreams of growing her savings were shattered after she fell victim to a fraudulent investment scheme advertised on Facebook, losing more than half a million ringgit.
The 52-year-old woman from Rompin lost a total of RM649,150 in less than two months.
Pahang deputy police chief Datuk Azry Akmar Ayob said the victim had come across an investment advertisement on Facebook in March this year.
"She clicked on the advertisement link and was subsequently contacted by an individual named Elaine, who invited her to join a WhatsApp group called 'Wealth Strategy Conference_166'.
"Shortly after, she was added to another group named 'VIP1901', where she began investing between March 20 and May 9. During this period, she transferred RM649,150 from her savings into several bank accounts allegedly belonging to various investment companies," he said in a statement today.
Azry Akmar said the woman lodged a police report yesterday after receiving no returns or updates on her investments and eventually realised she had been scammed.
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and avoid falling for seemingly lucrative investment offers on social media, reminding them to verify the legitimacy of such schemes via before making any transactions.
