JOHOR BARU: A teenager lost over RM200,000 after falling prey to an online job scam here.
Seri Alam OCPD Supt Mohd Sohaimi Ishak said the 19-year-old was promised commissions ranging between 6% and 15% of the initial amount spent to buy goods online.
“He was told to purchase some goods from the scammers. They claimed that he would get his money back, along with the commission promised one hour after payment was made.
“He was enticed by the offer, and he made two transactions to the scammer on July 7 totalling RM3,000. He then received his money back and and a commission of RM565 commission.
“This led him to believe that it was a legitimate online job and motivated him to make more transactions in the hope of gaining better returns,” he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 15).
Supt Mohd Sohaimi said that the victim made multiple transactions to 19 different bank accounts on Tuesday (Aug 13).
“The scammer gave all kinds of excuses when asked about the money and commission promised. He also claimed that the victim could only get his money back after completing all of the tasks assigned,” he said.
“The victim continued making transactions hoping to get the money back. He made a total of 27 transactions amounting to RM210,866 to the scammers.
“Some of the money used for the transactions was from his family members,” he said, adding that the teenager later realised he was scammed and filed a police report on Wednesday (Aug 14).
He said that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
“We will also investigate whether mule accounts were involved in the syndicate,” he said, adding that actions will be taken against the owners of the mule accounts.
