SIBU, April 4 — An elderly trader incurred a loss of RM190,800 after being duped in a non-existent online foreign currency exchange transaction here.
Sibu district police chief ACP Azari Miskon said the victim, in his 60s, reported that his son, who is working in Papua New Guinea, had asked him to make payments into several local bank accounts.
“The payments were supposedly for the exchange of the Malaysian Ringgit into Hong Kong dollars.
“This is because the victim’s son had said that he had met an individual through WhatsApp who introduced himself as ‘David’ and offered a currency exchange that would yield a significant profit, which was higher than the usual exchange rate,” he said in a statement today.
He said that two days ago, the victim agreed to help his son and made a money transfer to the local bank account provided by the suspect.
However, after checking with his son, he found that the money had not been deposited into the Hong Kong bank account of the friend of the victim’s son as promised, he said.
Azari said the complainant later realised he had been deceived because ‘David’ could not be contacted. The victim subsequently lodged a police report.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, and reminded the public not to make any money transfers to unknown personal accounts.
