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KUCHING, July 25: ‘All that glitters is not gold’ means not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so, which a housewife in Betong learned the hard way when she lost RM116,000 after being deceived into buying fake gold weighing 347.78g.
In a statement, Sarawak police commissioner Dato Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the victim, who is in her 30s, advertised for a drop-ship on Facebook and was contacted by the suspect via WhatsApp on June 27, who was interested in becoming a drop-ship to find customers who want to sell gold or customers who wish to sell gold that has been pawned.
“Through financial assistance from her friend, the victim made 20 transactions to the suspect’s bank account between July 1 and 8 totalling RM116,000.
“On July 11, the suspect sent the fake gold to the victim via express bus service from Miri to Kuching. Once received, the victim brought the gold to her friend’s gold shop in Kuching to check its authenticity, only to be told it was fake,” he said.
He added that the victim realised she had been deceived when she asked for the money back, and the suspect said they couldn’t return it as it had been used for other matters, leading the victim to lodge a police report.
Azman also reminded the public not to entertain unknown individuals offering to sell gold and to immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 if they are involved in cyber fraud and if they have just made a money transfer to a suspect’s bank account or e-wallet.
He also advised people to download the ‘Whoscall’ application through the Google Play Store (Android) or Apple Store (iOS) to help in deciding whether to answer the phone call received or otherwise. — DayakDaily
