SIBU: An agent for a household appliances company found herself RM41,870 poorer after falling victim to an online part-time job that promised enticing commissions.
The unfortunate incident happened on Apr 2 when the woman in her 20s, stumbled upon a job advertisement posted by Sunshine Travel on Facebook.
Intrigued by the offer, she called the number listed in the advertisement to learn more about the job.
Sibu police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili said that the victim was instructed by the suspect to register herself in the Cg Concept website and complete the assigned tasks.
“After completing the first task, she received RM100 as a commission in her personal account. Following that, she was assigned with the next task of making reservations for 10 different hotels.
“From Apr 2 to 3, the victim has transferred RM41,870 via 12 transactions into five different local accounts as payments for the supposed assignments,” he said in a statement.
After the payments were made, the victim contacted the suspect to obtain a refund of her initial capital and commission but, the suspect gave various reasons and failed to fulfil the promises.
Until the report was lodged yesterday (Apr 8), the victim had not received the promised commission and realised she had been cheated.
Zulkipli said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property.
In light of this, the public is advised to exercise caution and not be swayed by job offers promising lucrative returns on social media platforms.
“It is essential to conduct thorough due diligence by verifying the legitimacy of such offers with the relevant companies or agencies before accepting them,” he said.
For guidance or additional information, the public can contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997 or visit the Facebook pages @CyberCrimeAlertRMP and @JSJKPDRM.
It is also advisable to verify bank accounts and phone numbers through the Semak Mule website – http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/.
