MELAKA, July 14 — A lecturer at a private college here lost more than RM100,000 after he was believed to have been duped by an e-commerce syndicate over the purchase of a laptop worth RM1,900 advertised on a well-known website.
Melaka Commercial CID chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan said the 76-year-old man had contacted the suspect on July 7 to purchase the laptop via the WhatsApp application before proceeding with the payment transactions.
“Initially, the suspect had asked the victim to make a payment of RM3,000 for the insurance process and ‘clearance fee’ followed by several other transactions including RM18,700 for tax and RM23,000 for stamp duty.
“The victim, who did not find anything amiss at that point, continued with the payments as requested by the suspect, and only became suspicious after realising he had made payments amounting to RM101,900,” he said in a statement here today.
Sundra Rajan said the victim then complained about the matter to his son before filing a police report on July 11.
In this regard, he urged the public to remain vigilant when making online purchases to avoid becoming a victim of Internet fraud.
The public can also check all the dubious bank account or telephone numbers listed on the website http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule prior to making any transaction, he added. — Bernama
