A 38-year-old petrol station manager lost more than RM90,000 after falling for a part-time job scam he was lured into through a dating app.
Johor Bahru South district police chief, Assistant Commissioner Raub, revealed in a statement today that the victim had met a woman on the dating app Tinder. Through her introduction, he signed up for a supposed part-time job on a fake recruitment website, inventorysources.site.
Investigations showed that under the scammer’s instructions, the victim made nine transfers to six different accounts, totaling RM91,167. After the payments, he was told his work account had been “frozen.” When the woman vanished, the victim realized he had been scammed.
Police have since exposed the six mule accounts used. Four of them already had fraud records in the Commercial Crime Intelligence System (CCIS), including company accounts under Genesis Empire and Build Master Solution Trading at RHB Bank.
The other four accounts, all registered with Maybank, belonged to individuals identified as Abdul Aziz Bin Moha, Zainal Bin Jaafar, Hamdan Bin Jaafar, and Kamarul Syahmi Bin K.
Raub said investigations are underway, including recording statements from bank staff and tracking down the account holders. Arrests will be made against those involved.
He also reminded the public to stay vigilant against job offers that require upfront payments. The public is urged to use the anti-scam app and website Semak Mule to verify bank accounts or phone numbers before making any transactions.
Authorities, he stressed, will take stern action against all those linked to the case, and urged anyone with information to come forward to help combat online scams.
