Kuala muda: A retired engineer lost more than RM100,000 after being deceived into seeking assistance following an earlier scam.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the acting head of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Kedah contingent police headquarters (IPK) DSP Jasmani Sabrini stated that the 54-year-old victim lodged a police report at the Kuala Muda district police headquarters (IPD) last Sunday at about 12.09 pm.

On May 16, 2025, the victim encountered an advertisement on Facebook which read, 'If you are a victim of a scam, please contact us.' Upon clicking the link, the victim provided his name and phone number. Subsequently, he was contacted via WhatsApp and asked to fill in his personal details for application purposes. Before the application could be processed, the victim was instructed to make an advance payment to open a file.

Jasmani revealed that the victim made eight online transfer transactions to various bank accounts, involving different individual and company names, between May 28 and June 18 last year. The total loss amounted to RM108,001, and at the time the police report was lodged, the party involved was still demanding additional payments under the pretext of recovering the victim's money.

Investigations further showed that the man had previously fallen victim to scams, with three cases opened in Sungai Petani and Padang Serai involving non-existent loan schemes.

Jasmani advised the public to remain vigilant and not be deceived by online advertisements offering services to recover money lost to scams. He encouraged the public to verify with the police before making any suspicious transactions and suggested using the Semak Mule application, checking the CCID Facebook page, or contacting the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) at 997.