An elderly trader in Sibu was cheated of RM190,800 after falling for a fake online foreign currency exchange scheme promoted by his son’s contact
SIBU: An elderly trader lost RM190,800 after being deceived in a fraudulent online foreign currency exchange transaction.
Sibu district police chief ACP Azari Miskon said the victim, in his 60s, reported that his son working in Papua New Guinea had asked him to make payments into several local bank accounts.
The payments were supposedly to exchange Malaysian Ringgit into Hong Kong dollars at a profit-making rate. The victim’s son claimed to have been contacted via WhatsApp by an individual named ‘David’ who offered the lucrative exchange.
Two days ago, the victim agreed to assist his son and transferred money to a local bank account provided by the suspect. He later checked with his son and discovered the funds were never deposited into the intended Hong Kong account as promised.
The complainant realised he had been deceived when ‘David’ became unreachable. The victim has since lodged a police report regarding the incident.
Azari said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. He reminded the public to avoid transferring money to unknown personal bank accounts.
