By Aida Aziz
BAGAN DATUK: A 23-year-old housewife lost RM18,408 after falling victim to a work-from-home part-time job scam advertised on social media, which promised commissions for packing goods.
Bagan Datuk district police chief Supt Mohammad Ali Mohd Jali said the incident occurred on Sept 30 at about 9.44 am when the victim was at home browsing the Facebook account cheritap01.
He said the victim was attracted to the advertisement and contacted the telephone number provided before being instructed to continue the conversation via the Telegram application.
The Telegram operator then asked the victim to fill in a form containing her personal information.
“The victim was asked to place daily orders to pack goods and, once the goods arrived at her home, she was required to arrange for their delivery.
“However, she was instructed to make advance payments for the forms or tasks before proceeding.
“The victim subsequently made 12 transactions to several bank accounts, resulting in total losses of RM18,408,” he said.
Mohammad Ali said investigations found that the victim had been repeatedly instructed to transfer money but never received the promised commissions.
He said the bank accounts provided to the victim were mule accounts, while the Facebook account used by the suspect was a fake account created as part of the scam operation.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code (Act 574) for cheating or dishonestly inducing a person to hand over property.
The public are advised to exercise greater caution and not to be easily lured by online offers, loans or assistance schemes that promise financial rewards.
