JOHOR BARU: A foreigner, who is a former manager, believed she could finally increase her wealth after receiving a significant profit from a small investment in a scheme she came across on social media.
Hoping for greater returns, the 54-year-old woman decided to increase her investment, only to lose RM175,000 after discovering that the scheme was a scam.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the woman came across an advertisement on Facebook promoting the investment scheme in October.
She proceeded to get in touch with the advertiser via WhatsApp for further information.
Persuaded by promises of quick profits, the victim shared her personal details to register for the scheme.
It is understood that she received the returns as promised for the small investment she made earlier.
However, she later received calls from two other individuals, also on WhatsApp, who encouraged her to triple her investment in the scheme.
She agreed to their suggestion and made seven online cash transfers to three bank accounts, totaling RM175,000, between Oct 30 and Dec 10.
When she attempted to withdraw her supposed investment returns, further payments were demanded, leading her to realise she had been cheated.
Raub said the victim lodged a police report after her investments failed to materialize and efforts to retrieve the amount invested proved futile.