KUANTAN: Promises of lucrative returns through a part-time job online prompted a university staff to secure a bank loan, borrow from friends and empty her savings before losing RM118, 767 to a scammer.
The 22-year-old victim earned RM47 profit from her first two online tasks and assumed that she was destined for 'greater returns' but little did she realise that the commission was bait that landed her into a bigger mess.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the drama unfolded on July 23 when the victim from Kuantan befriended a "woman" on Instagram.
"The woman had shared an online task claiming that she could not solve it and offered the victim to help complete the task. They communicated through text and the victim was promised lucrative payments.
"The victim took up the offer and was given a link where she was required to screenshot images of goods and share them with the suspect. Each time she sent a screenshot, the victim was told to transfer a certain amount of cash as listed along with the images," he said.
Yahaya said the victim was instructed to deposit the cash according to the price of the goods which she screenshot so that she will be eligible for the profit and earned RM47 profit after completing two tasks.
"The victim assumed the job offer was genuine. She applied for a bank loan, borrowed cash from friends and used her savings to make 20 transactions amounting RM118, 767 to 11 different bank accounts.
"However, she did not receive the profit as promised and lodged a police report yesterday. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code," he said.
He advised the public not to be easily duped by job advertisements on social media, especially those that offer high profits for doing simple tasks and reminded the public to gather details on the company's background.
He also advised members of the public to conduct checks at semakmule.rmp.gov.my before carrying out any transaction.