SEREMBAN: A 36-year-old teacher has become poorer by more than RM100,000 after being scammed in what turned out to be a non-existent loan scheme.
State commercial crime chief Supt Aibee Ab Ghani said the victim from Bahau near here had applied for a RM10,000 loan after she saw an advertisement on social media on Aug 24.
“The victim was attracted to the terms and conditions of the loan and sent messages to two numbers displayed in the advertisement belonging to ‘Elwin and Allen’.
“She was then asked to send copies of her salary slip and identity card so that her loan could be processed,” he said.
Supt Aibee said a couple of days later, the victim was then told that her loan application was successful.
However, before she was given the money, she was told to make payments for stamp duty, as well as processing, agreement and financial fees.
“She then made online cash transfers to 12 bank accounts.
“The total amount she transferred in 30 transactions totalled RM105,461,” he said.
He said despite having transferred the amount, ‘Allen’ kept asking her for more.
The victim decided to lodge a report on Monday (Oct 19) upon realising that she had been duped.
Asked where the victim had obtained the cash from, Supt Aibee said the woman, who was a widow, had received an insurance payment after her husband’s death.
“The victim had received the insurance money before she applied for the loan.
“She probably didn’t want to use that money and was only interested to take a small loan,” he said.
He said the victim could not provide an answer why she was prepared to pay more than RM100,000, when she had only applied for a RM10,000 loan.
The case is being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. -The Star