KUCHING: A 40-year-old woman suffered a loss of RM1.4 million after she was cheated by an investment fraud syndicate.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri said the Commercial Crime Investigation Department received a report from the victim, a traditional medicine shop trader, on May 18.
He said the victim, while at home on Feb 1, was offered a ‘Crypto Exchange’ investment by an acquaintance known through the Weibo application.
“The contact gave a WBEX link via Whatsapp to the victim. Through the WBEX guidelines, she registered her personal details such as name, email address, phone number, ID card photo and bank account number.
“The victim was interested in participating in the investment scheme because she was promised a high return,” he told a media conference at the Media Centre, Sarawak Police Contingent headquarters here this morning.
The victim had made 34 payment transactions to 25 different accounts between Feb 1 and May 5.
Mohd Azman said the total payment made by the victim amounted to RM1.4 million.
“The victim only got a one-time investment return amounting of RM3,260 at the beginning of the investment, which was on Feb 1.
“She then realised that she was cheated after she had not received the investment return in a long time as promised,” he said.
In the meantime, Azman said according to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, a total of 67 fraud cases were recorded from Jan 1 to April 30 this year compared to 68 cases in the same period last year.
He said, the losses recorded during that period for this year showedan increase of RM5.9 million compared to RM2.8 million in the same period last year.
“The continuous efforts of investigating department to curb cases of investment frauds in the state have resulted in 18 arrests this year, while for the same period in 2022 there were nine arrests.
“A total of 28 investigation papers were opened this year against six for the same period in 2022,” he said.
