KUALA TERENGGANU - A retired bank officer and a clinic clerk lost a combined RM162,485 after falling victim to part-time job scams promoted on social media.
Kuala Terengganu district police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said that in the first case, the 57-year-old former bank officer came across an advertisement for a sales agent position on Facebook on Jan 5.
He said the victim clicked on the link provided and subsequently received a WhatsApp message from the suspect.
"The victim was added to a WhatsApp group called ‘AurionVilla’ and was taught in detail how to complete the tasks, which involved making hotel bookings via an online platform.
"After registering as a member or worker, the victim was required to make 90 hotel bookings a day using his own money and was promised a commission for each task,” he said in a statement today.
Azli said the victim was initially delighted as he earned a RM4,000 profit upon completing several tasks and went on to make larger bookings in hopes of earning higher returns.
"However, the victim lodged a police report at 1.39 pm yesterday after failing to receive the promised profits,” he said.
In the second case, a female clinic clerk lost all her savings amounting to RM70,935 after falling victim to a similar syndicate.
According to Azli, the 54-year-old victim received Tupperware product gifts from an unknown individual on Jan 1 before being offered a part-time job involving ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ social media posts with lucrative commissions.
"After completing 20 tasks, the victim was paid a commission. The suspect then offered higher commissions on the condition that the victim make upfront payments to obtain further tasks.
"The victim accepted the offer and made 17 payments through cash deposits and online transactions but failed to receive the promised commissions,” he said.
He added that the victim lodged a police report after the suspect continued to pressure her to make further payments using various excuses.
The cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - BERNAMA