A nurse’s intention to purchase chickens at a promotional price of RM5 turned into a costly scam after she reportedly lost RM6,770 in an online purchase fraud incident yesterday.
The 49-year-old woman lodged a police report at the Bau District Police Station at about 4.11pm after discovering that money had been transferred out of her bank account without her permission.
Bau District Police Chief, Superintendent Mohd Haide A Rahman, said the incident occurred at around 8am at the victim’s home in Kampung Skio, Bau, where she came across a Facebook advertisement promoting “Ayam Fresh Premium” at a discounted price.
He said the victim then contacted the suspect via WhatsApp to proceed with the purchase of the advertised chicken offer.
The victim was initially instructed to make a RM5 payment through a provided link, but was unable to complete the transaction and was subsequently directed to download an application and make a manual payment under a cash-on-delivery (COD) setup.
She followed the instructions, including installing the application and updating COD settings as requested to complete the purchase process.
Shortly after, she received a notification from her bank informing her that her account had been temporarily blocked.
Upon checking her account, she discovered that RM6,770 had been transferred to another bank account belonging to a male individual.
The victim never received the purchased chicken, and attempts to contact the seller were unsuccessful as there was no response from the number used.
Realising she had been deceived, she then lodged a police report. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
Authorities also confirmed that the victim had contacted the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 on the same day to report the incident.
