MUKAH: A civil servant was swindled out of RM15,000 after falling prey to a series of online scams involving a fake part-time job and a bogus loan offer.
Mukah OCPD DSP Muhammad Rizal Alias said that the woman, in her 30s, reported the incidents to the police last Friday (Aug 9).
In the first case, the victim encountered a part-time job advertisement on TikTok and contacted the number provided in the ad.
“She was soon in touch with an agent claiming to represent Uniqlo, who explained that each completed task would earn her 15 per cent of the money deposited into a ‘uniqlomy.com’ account.
“The victim initially transferred RM4,000 for the task. When she sought to cancel the task due to escalating costs, the suspect demanded additional payment to return her money.
“She then transferred RM8,000 into different bank accounts via four transactions. In total, the victim transferred RM12,000 into six different bank accounts via six transactions,” he said.
The woman’s misfortune did not end there.
In the second case, Rizal added that the victim came across a money-lending advertisement on Google and clicked a WhatsApp link to get in touch with a representative.
“She agreed to apply for a loan and was instructed to make various payments for the loan process. She transferred RM2,600 into the suspect’s account but later decided to cancel the loan.
“The suspect then demanded RM400 to cancel the application. Despite paying the additional amount, the suspect continued to request more payments,” he said.
Realising she had been duped, the woman reported the incidents to the police for investigation purposes.
In light of this, Rizal advised the public to exercise caution when dealing with online job and loan offers.
“Job and loan offer on social media should be verified for authenticity. The public should not to be easily swayed by advertisements that seem too good to be true,” he said.
