SHAH ALAM: A 63-year-old woman lured by an investment advertisement on Facebook became over RM4 million poorer after realising she had been duped in the non-existent scheme.
Shah Alam police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said the woman, a private company retiree, saw the advertisement in March and was added into a Whatsapp group and asked to open a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Hub account for investment purposes.
He said the victim was attracted to the high returns of 11 to 13 per cent from the invested sum and the continuous profit growth for as long as she pumped money into it.
"As ordered, she opened the FDI Hub account and made 42 transactions from March till end of May, which totalled RM4,749,214.
"After hitting investments of RM11.3 million, she wanted to withdraw the money from the FDI Hub system.
"But she found there was no money deposited into her bank account at all," said Mohd Iqbal in a statement today.
The woman, he said, made a police report at 12.30am today (June 6) at the Section 9 station.
He said investigations are on-going under Section 420 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term not less than one year and not more than 10 years, with whipping and fine.
Iqbal advised the public not to be easily fooled by any advertisements of investment shares, cryptocurrency or those related to social media which promises high returns in a short time.
He said investments should be done on legitimate platforms registered with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
"The public can check if an investment company is registered or not on BNM's website.
"The public should contact the police if they come across suspicious investment advertisements or offers," he added.
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