A 17-year-old student fell prey to an e-commerce scam after she lost RM26,000 over the purchase of a handphone early this month. - NSTP file pic, for illustration purposes only
A 17-year-old student fell prey to an e-commerce scam after she lost RM26,000 over the purchase of a handphone early this month. - NSTP file pic, for illustration purposes only

KOTA BARU: A 17-year-old student fell prey to an e-commerce scam after she lost RM26,000 over the purchase of a handphone early this month.

Kelantan Commercial Criminal Investigation Department chief Superintendent Ahmad Azizul Mohamed said police received a report from the girl who is a local on Dec 8.

"In the report, the victim claimed that she was at her home in Tanah Merah when she saw an advertisement from a clothing boutique in Instagram last month on the sale of a blouse.

"She was interested in the blouse and later contacted the seller. She then was asked to pay RM200 for the purchase and its postage.

"Early this month, she received a WhatsApp message from an unknown individual who claimed to be a boutique's worker. The worker told her that she won a lucky draw from the purchase and for that, she would get an Iphone 12 Pro Max.

"However, she was asked to pay an amount for the deposit and other processes. The victim then made three transactions amounting to RM26,000 to different bank accounts," he said in a statement today.

Azizul said the victim realised she was cheated after she received a call from an individual who claimed to be a bank officer and demanded more money from her if she wanted to get her money back.

"She realised she was cheated and decided to lodge a police report last week," he added.

Azizul said police were investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.