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KUCHING, June 18: An IT officer in Samrahan District lost RM201,186 to a non-existent online job offer recently.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Dato Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the 47-year-old woman saw an online job advertisement in Facebook on June 11 and had left her telephone number on the site for further interaction.
The victim then received a message on WhatsApp and Telegram from an unknown individual introducing himself/herself as a representative from a company called Sky9 Capital. The job offer entailed assisting users on online platforms such as YouTube r and Lazada to increase their engagement rate.
“The interested victim was required to register on a website at http://pgmallbuy.com where she would receive payment and bonuses for each assignment completed. The task given was to increase the traffic rate of YouTube accounts that the suspect supplied.
“On June 12, 2023, the suspect informed that if the victim wanted to get paid more, she only needed to make a pre-order payment of a certain amount. Starting from June 13 to June 16, the victim has made 14 transactions to seven different bank accounts amounting to RM201,186.
“The victim realised that she was cheated when she did not receive any returns and was advised by her friends to make a police report because she had been cheated,” Mohd Azman said in a statement today.
He also cited another case involving online investment fraud reported in Padawan where a 44-year-old female online trader had lost RM238,481.
On Nov 27, 2022, the woman received a WhatsApp message from a Singaporean ‘friend’ named Royman who invited her to participate in online investment through Telegram.
“The victim was instructed to download an application named Trust App and she had filled in all her personal information and engaged with an individual through Telegram.
“Starting from Nov 27, 2022 until Feb 15, 2023, the victim has made 17 transactions to nine different bank accounts amounting to RM238,481.
“The victim only realised that she was cheated when she only received RM500 as a return from the investment money,” Mohd Azman elaborated.
Following the two cases, he advised members of the public to not be fooled by illegal investment schemes and job offers that promised huge returns or salaries on social media.
He also said the public should not respond to phone calls from unknown individuals and inform their partner, friends or family members on the phone calls received, or check with the police station, bank or related agency for verification.
The public may also contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 if they have fallen victim to cyber fraud such as phone scam, love scam, e-commerce scam, non-existent loan scam and so on.
“The public is also advised to download the ‘Whoscall’ app through the Google Playstore or Apple Store to help you decide whether to answer the received phone call or not. Cooperation between the police and the application developer allows phone numbers listed in the police’s Semakmule database system to be flagged as scammers by Whoscall.
“In addition, the public can also scan the ‘Scan Me’ QR code to get the latest information on commercial crime modus operandi on Commercial Criminal Investigation Department’s (CCID) official social media accounts and the commercial crime e-book.
“The public can also check the suspect’s phone number and bank account through the Check Scammers CCID application or through the website http://semakmule.rmp.gov.my before making any financial transactions,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
