ALOR SETAR: A businessman ended up RM1.1 million poorer after he made 22 transactions for a non-existent investment scheme he found on Facebook.
The 57-year-old had been depositing money for the investment scheme since February. On 9 May, he finally lodged a police report.
Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Superintendent Loi Yew Lik said the man found out about the scheme via Facebook and clicked on a link which saw him added to a WhatsApp group.
"Initially, he made a RM2,000 investment and earned a RM780 profit," he said in a statement.
"After that, he made 21 more transactions amounting to RM1.1 million to the bank account given to him."
However, he did not receive even a sen and was told to invest another RM900,000 to access his money.
Loi said this was when the businessman began suspecting that something was amiss.
The police's probe found the Facebook page of the supposed investment company was fake and that the people behind it were impersonating an international investment company, Warburg Pincus.
The case is being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud.