KUALA TERENGGANU, April 19 — A trader suffered losses amounting to RM25,280 after being duped by a syndicate in an online Harumanis mango sale scam using a quick response (QR) code.
Kuala Terengganu District Police Chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said the 53-year-old victim lodged a report at 7.41pm yesterday after realising unauthorised withdrawals had been made from his bank account.
He said the incident began at about 4pm yesterday when the victim, who was in Marang came across an advertisement for Harumanis mangoes on the social media platform Facebook before contacting the purported seller.
“The suspect later sent a link via the messaging application WhatsApp, which contained a QR code for payment purposes. After scanning the code, the victim’s mobile phone became unresponsive for about 20 minutes,” he said in a statement.
Azli said the victim subsequently contacted Maybank and was informed of three unauthorised transactions amounting to RM8,264, RM8,642 and RM8,374, bringing the total loss to RM25,280.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama
