Two senior citizens, including a former company director, lost nearly RM2.7 million after falling victim to separate online investment scams that promised unusually high returns through fake investment platforms.
Penang police chief Azizee Ismail said the first case involved a 62-year-old machinery operator who suffered losses amounting to RM1.294 million after being lured into an online investment scheme called “Global Finance Trends XA”.
He said the Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Seberang Perai Tengah district police headquarters received a report from the victim on Thursday.
According to Azizee, the man became interested in the scheme after coming across a Facebook advertisement in March before being contacted by a woman through WhatsApp.
“The suspect claimed the investment originated from China under a company known as Citic Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd and promised lucrative returns.
“At the beginning, the victim was only given local investment tips and the profit forecasts provided appeared accurate, which gradually gained his trust,” he said in a statement last night.
The victim was later instructed to download the “Global Finance Trends XA” application to register and conduct investment transactions.
Between April 6 and May 4, the victim carried out 28 transactions involving RM1.397 million into a CIMB account registered under the company’s name.
However, Azizee said the victim only managed to receive RM103,000 in returns and realised he had been cheated after failing to withdraw the RM1 million profit displayed in the application.
In a separate incident, a 72-year-old former female company director also lost RM1.403 million after allegedly being deceived by an online investment syndicate operating under the name “Shanghai Futures Exchange”.
Azizee said the woman met a foreign man through Facebook in July 2023 before continuing their communication via the LINE messaging application.
“The suspect even sent a picture of his identity card to convince the victim he was genuine before introducing an investment opportunity promising high returns within a short period,” he said.
The victim was later directed to a website through a provided link for membership registration and investment purposes.
Between Nov 27 last year and Feb 5, she made 53 transactions involving RM1.403 million into 30 different bank accounts, including 26 personal accounts and four company accounts.
Azizee said the woman only discovered she had been scammed after failing to withdraw the RM30 million profit allegedly shown in the investment application.
Her account was eventually blocked and the suspect could no longer be contacted.
Police are continuing investigations into both cases under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
