Senior citizen in Muar loses over RM200,000 to scam

MUAR: A senior citizen has lost more than RM200,000 in savings after falling victim to a fake investment scheme.

Muar OCPD Asst Comm Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz said the 70-year-old woman was randomly added to a group on Facebook in January, where she began interacting with the administrator.

“She was offered high investment returns and was told that she only needed to download an app to participate in the supposed investment. She followed the instructions and initially invested RM8,000.

“Subsequently, she continued to add more capital into the scheme, making a total of 30 transactions amounting to RM229,050 into the same bank account,” he said in a statement on Saturday (March 29).

When the victim attempted to withdraw her earnings on March 25, she was instructed to deposit more funds in order to do so.

“Only then did the senior citizen realise she had fallen victim to a scam and lodged a police report,” said ACP Raiz Mukhliz.

He urged the public to exercise caution when considering attractive investment opportunities.

He also encouraged individuals to verify suspicious bank account numbers using the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department’s SemakMule portal before conducting banking transactions.

Those who suspect they have been scammed can call the National Scam Response Centre at 997 or visit the nearest police station.