KANGAR: A painter and student lost RM47,324 in two separate incidents to an online job scam.
Perlis CID chief Supt Wan Aeidil Wan Abdullah said the first victim, a 23-year-old man, who worked as a painter in Arau lost RM39,196 whereas the second victim was a 19-year-old female student who lost RM8,128.
"Attracted to a part-time job advertised on Facebook, the man sent a WhatsApp message to the number in the advertisement.
"The suspect instructed the victim to make several purchases of goods on the e-commerce platform for an immediate profit of five per cent for each purchase," he said in a statement today.
He said, however, that the victim did not make any purchase through the e-commerce platform but was instead asked by the suspect to make nine online banking transactions to three accounts.
Wan Aeidil said the victim made the transactions using money from his savings and a loan from a friend.
Meanwhile, the student lost her money after being also tricked by an online job offer in which she was told she could earn a lucrative income of between RM2,500 and RM4,000 on Facebook.
He said the victim transferred the money into two accounts to make purchases of various items on the e-commerce platform.
He said the results of a police check on the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) portal semakmule.rmp.gov.my found that seven police reports had been lodged against the two bank account numbers.
"Police are actively tracking down the suspects and both cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code," he also said, adding that according to police statistics from January to April 2022, victims of job offer fraud in the state involved a loss of RM182,829.62. --BERNAMA