ALOR GAJAH: A female clerk in an automotive company here lost RM54,000 after she was allegedly cheated through the WhatsApp application on March 15.
Alor Gajah District police chief Supt Arshad Abu said the 37-year-old victim claimed she bought the masks to sell them to the public as well as for her personal use following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Early investigations found that the victim dealt with a female suspect on WhatsApp from her home in Taman Samarinda to purchase 3,364 boxes of masks.
“The victim was asked to make payment into a CIMB account under the name of ‘Rita’ and she banked in the money amounting to RM54,000 into CIMB and Maybank in several transactions on March 16 and 17,” he said in a statement here today.
He said after the payments were made, the victim was told the masks would be sent to her house in a lorry at 8 pm on March 17. However, to date, she has yet to receive the goods and the seller could no longer be contacted.
“The victim felt she had been cheated and lodged a police report,” Arshad said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for fraud.
According to the victim, the RM54,000 used to pay for the masks had been collected from her friends.
Meanwhile, Arshad advised the public to be cautious and not be easily duped by offers of non-existent masks advertised through the short messaging system and other applications. – Bernama
