Maran: A civil servant lost more than RM160,000 after being duped by a syndicate offering a fraudulent investment scheme known as 'Future Funds', introduced to him by a woman he had befriended on Facebook.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Maran district police chief Supt Wong Kim Wai revealed that after a month of online interaction, the suspect offered the victim an investment opportunity, claiming she could help him withdraw profits from the scheme. Initially, the victim received a return of RM2,000, which encouraged him to make further payments. However, subsequent requests from the suspect for additional payments, including RM57,000 and RM10,000, were made under various pretenses, without any further returns.

Supt Wong elaborated that the victim used personal savings and took loans from family members and a bank to make eight transactions to five different company accounts between February 12 and March 4. Throughout this period, the victim communicated only via WhatsApp and video calls with the suspect, who remains unverified and is believed to have provided a fake identity card number.

The case is currently being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. Authorities are actively working to track down the suspect and collect further evidence.