KUANTAN: An engineer's dream of buying four classic Volkswagen vehicles on Facebook was dashed after he lost RM146,000 to a scammer last week.
The victim, 38, from the city here, was deceived by a scammer through WhatsApp when attempting to buy four Volkswagen Kombis
State police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the incident began Nov 4 when the victim saw a Facebook advertisement offering the vehicles.
"The victim expressed interest and agreed to buy four units for RM146,000. He transferred the money through 15 online transactions to four separate bank accounts," he said yesterday.
"The victim only realised he had been scammed when the seller claimed that no meeting was required to collect the vehicles. He lodged a report yesterday."
Yahaya said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Yahaya urged the public to be cautious of suspicious online offers and reminded them to verify bank account details and phone numbers provided by unknown individuals via semakmule.rmp.gov.my before making any transactions.