KUANTAN: She was only required to click the like button on advertisements posted on an e-commerce platform to earn promising commissions along with her investments.
Little did the 35-year-old housewife from Raub realise that the work-from-home-job offer was bait that landed her into a bigger mess, causing her to lose RM35,000 of her savings within 24 hours to the online job syndicate.
The incident occurred on Feb 11 when the victim received a part-time job offer on WhatsApp allegedly from an e-commerce platform.
Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Superintendent Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the woman replied to the message before an individual identified as "Manager Lin" texted her.
"The victim was told to complete her task by clicking the like button using a link provided by the company before depositing a certain amount as investment. The following day (Feb 12), the woman transferred RM510 to an account provided by the syndicate and within hours received her investment along with RM124 commission.
"On Feb 13, 'Manager Lin' texted the woman to click the like button and provide a sum of cash for investment. The woman made six online transactions amounting to RM35,000 to three separate bank accounts and began to panic when she did not receive any replies," he said.
Wazir said the victim realised she had been cheated when she could no longer contact "Manager Lin' and lodged a police report yesterday.
He said the syndicate lured the victim by returning her cash along with commissions on the first occasion, causing the victim to believe the online job offer was genuine.
In a separate incident, a 28-year-old accountant here lost all her savings amounting RM14,005 to a similar online job syndicate which offered her 10 percent commission for completing job tasks provided online.
Wazir said the victim had applied for a part-time online job which she saw on Facebook on Feb 7 and was assured that she could earn easy money by only placing an order, providing a screenshot of the ordered item and depositing cash as instructed by the company.
"The victim completed the first and second task before she received RM48.90 commission along with the RM489 which she paid for the item. She completed the third task on Feb 14 by paying RM439 but did not receive any returns.
"A syndicate member told the victim she had missed two orders and told her to participate in the next task to get her investment and commission back. She deposited RM1,317 and paid another RM3,759, only to be told that she had to pay more to receive all her returns," he said.
Wazir said despite not receiving her initial investment, the victim continued to transfer another RM 4,490 followed by RM4,000 to the account number provided by the syndicate, who promised that she will be receiving all her investments along with lucrative commissions.
"When the syndicate continued demanding for more cash, the victim could not provide any more as she had none left in her savings. She lodged a police report yesterday," he said.
He said both cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years and whipping, and a fine if convicted.