Negri women lose RM1.1mil in investment scams

SEREMBAN: Two women have lost a total of RM1.12mil in investment scams that promised unusually high returns, says Negri Sembilan police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Ahmad Dzaffir Mohd Yusoff.

He said in one case, a 44-year-old woman in Bahau near here lost RM621,800 after putting her money into a gold investment scheme which promised high returns in US dollars.

The woman, a private sector employee, came across the scheme on TikTok in March and decided to participate.

“The victim was asked to go to a website for more details and then told to bank in the amount she wished to invest into different accounts.

“She transferred the money via 27 transactions and received an initial profit of RM20,000 but didn’t get any more after that,” he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 3).

DCP Ahmad Dzaffir said the second victim, a 63-year-old woman, lost RM500,000 after investing her money with a company in Kuala Lumpur in June 2020.

“The victim decided to invest after she was told that the company would give her returns of between 15% and 17% a month for three years.

“For the following six months, she received RM6,250 a month but the payment stopped after that,” he said, adding that the victim’s relative had told her about the investment scheme.

He said when the victim went to Kuala Lumpur to meet the company officials, she found that it had ceased operations.

Both the victims lodged reports separately on Wednesday (Aug 2).

DCP Ahmad Dzaffir advised the public to exercise caution when investing their money in schemes which promised unusually high returns, or when asked to bank their investments into individual accounts.

“Please verify the status of companies which provide these so-called investments with Bank Negara or the Securities Commission,” he said.

Both cases are being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating which carries a jail term of between one and 10 years, whipping and a fine upon conviction.