InvestIdeas

The senior citizen was duped when she was attracted to the investment return in digital coins which was purportedly operated by a company called Accerx based in Hong Kong via Facebook.

"The victim then clicked on a link before her phone number was automatically added to the WhatsApp group 'X-4 Beacon of the stock market.

Tendency to fall prey to scams could be attributed to what is known as the “self-serving bias”, where people believe they are somehow immune to such threats.

Factors such as greed and sunk costs also play a part in people falling for schemes that are “too good to be true.

A company director lost RM11,130,123 in a cryptocurrency investment scheme called 'CCERX' advertised on Facebook last September.

Since last November, police had received 124 reports from victims of investment fraud nationwide involving a total loss of RM90,364,463.

A 45-year-old woman lost RM168,400 after falling victim to a fake health ministry officer who claimed she had taken several controlled medicines from the Penang Hospital.

The businessman, in his 50s, became interested after seeing an advertisement on Facebook in October last year.

“The victim was given investment-related information through a link and the website, and the victim could make transactions and view Bursa Malaysia’s graph movement statistics”.