Kuala terengganu: A civil servant lost RM53,035.49 after being duped by an online purchase fraud syndicate, a fake consultant and a non-existent loan offer.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Kuala Terengganu district police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor stated that the incident began on April 8, when the 48-year-old victim encountered a car sale advertisement on Facebook. Intrigued by the offer, the victim made contact with the suspect and agreed to purchase the car, subsequently making six payments to five different accounts amounting to RM15,955.49.

The victim, realizing something was amiss with the car purchase, sought help through Facebook to find consultant services to resolve the issue. On April 11, the victim paid RM7,280 to an individual posing as a consultant officer on the platform. Simultaneously, in an attempt to resolve the car purchase problem, the victim sought to take out a loan online.

Azli further explained that on April 13, the victim, in desperation to secure the loan, transferred RM29,800 to a non-existent money lending syndicate supposedly as a management fee. It was only after this transfer that the victim realized he had been scammed and lodged a police report at 4.29 pm the previous day.

The victim's financial resources were derived from savings and loans from his family. The case is currently under investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which pertains to cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.