SIBU: A supervisor at a private firm was left RM331,050 poorer after falling victim to a non-existent cryptocurrency investment scheme on Facebook.
It all began on Nov 15, 2023 when the man, in his 60s, came across the investment advertisement and contacted the number listed.
Later, the suspect added the victim to a WhatsApp group named ‘188-Financial Century’ to provide insights on the cryptocurrency investment.
Sibu police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili said the victim agreed to invest in the scheme on Mar 18 this year.
He was instructed to download an app named ‘Kakaue’ to register an account for investment purposes and monitor profit entries.
The suspect also directed the victim to make capital payments for cryptocurrency investments in stages to gain profit.
“Between Mar 19 and May 23 this year, the victim transferred a sum of RM331,050 into eight accounts belonging to companies and individuals via 11 transactions.
“Once the transactions were made, the victim checked the ‘Kakaue’ app and found his accumulated profit to be USDT3,610,730.8963 (equivalent to RM17,004,032.07).
“Last week, on June 20, the victim contacted the suspect to withdraw investment money but was required to make a deposit payment first for the money exchange service charge from USDT to Malaysian Ringgit (RM),” he said.
However, the man realised he had been cheated when the promised profits failed to materialise.
Zulkipli said the victim reported the incident to the police last Friday (June 21) and that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property.
In light of this, he urged the public to exercise caution and invest only through legitimate and registered platforms sanctioned by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Securities Commission.
“They are advised to conduct preliminary checks before making any investment online to avoid becoming a victim of scams,” he said.
