TELUK INTAN: A retired civil servant and his wife who were hoping to strike it rich in cryptocurrency trading ended up losing RM542,171.20 of their savings instead.
Perak police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said that the Hilir Perak district police headquarters received a report from the 70-year-old man at 4.34pm yesterday.
He said initial investigation found that on Jan 8, the man who hails from Hutan Melintang here saw a Singapore-based advertisement on Facebook offering a cryptocurrency stock purchase service in the United States.
"The man then contacted the owner of the share purchase through WhatsApp and the suspect had asked for his details such as identification card and account bank numbers to document the cryptocurrency investment.
"On Jan 9, the victim started investing in cryptocurrency shares by buying two units of shares worth RM500. The victim had deposited the money into a local bank account.
"The victim was told by the suspect that he would get a profit of RM4,500 within one day, that is on the same day. The suspect also told the victim that if he did not withdraw the money, the profit would increase over time," he said in a statement yesterday.
Mohd Yusri said on Jan 10, the victim contacted the suspect again to inquire about the investment money and was told that he had made a profit of RM18,500.
"However, the victim was asked to make various payments to the suspect to get the entire result of his investment.
"Between Jan and July this year, the victim made a total of 133 online transactions into 39 local bank accounts involving a total loss of RM542,171.20," he said.
He added that during that period, the victim did not receive any payment from his investment and the victim as well as his wife had spent their savings and retirement money on it.
"After the victim ran out of money, the suspect still asked the victim to continue investing.
"When the victim asked the suspect to return the money, they gave various reasons and no longer responded to the message. Feeling deceived, the pensioner then came to the police station to lodge a report," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.