RM71,000 Lost in a Share Scheme That Never Existed

A 40-year-old engineer from Malaysia lost RM71,000 after falling for a fake investment scheme advertised on Facebook.

According to Kemaman police, the incident began on 8 April when the man saw an advertisement on Facebook promoting a share investment opportunity. Interested, he reached out to a woman listed in the ad to learn more.

The woman claimed to represent a Chinese investment company and introduced the man to a mobile application that was supposedly used to manage the investment. Convinced by her claims and the app's appearance, the engineer made an initial small deposit. Soon after, he received a return of RM600. Encouraged by the early payout, he believed the scheme was legitimate.

Over the following month, between 27 May and 26 June, he transferred RM71,000 in total, hoping to earn larger profits. However, the situation took a turn when the expected returns never arrived, and the woman who had introduced the scheme became unreachable. It was at this point that he realised he had been scammed.

Kemaman police chief Superintendent Mohd Razi Rosli confirmed the case and urged the public to be cautious when dealing with investment offers online. He emphasised the importance of ensuring that any company or individual promoting investments is registered with and supervised by the Securities Commission Malaysia. He also advised the public to contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 to verify any suspicious offers before transferring funds to third-party accounts.

This case is one of many that reflect a worrying rise in scams using social media platforms and mobile apps to lure victims. Scammers often create convincing tools and offer small initial gains to build trust before persuading individuals to invest more.

To help people avoid such traps, tools like WikiFX are becoming increasingly valuable. WikiFX provides detailed information about brokers and financial platforms, including licensing status, regulatory oversight, and user reviews. The platform also issues warnings about unlicensed or suspicious entities, helping users identify red flags early.

By checking a brokers background through WikiFX, investors can make more informed decisions and avoid being drawn into fraudulent schemes. As online scams become more advanced and harder to detect, having access to reliable, independent verification tools is essential for anyone considering a financial investment.