Malaysian accountant loses half a million to Bitcoin scammers

A Malaysian accountant has lost half a million to Bitcoin scammers. According to reports, the victim, a 61-year-old accountant, lost about RM460,888 to the bad actors after making a bad investment decision. According to the police report, the Malaysian accountant was enticed by the returns of a Bitcoin investment scheme.

Police chief ACP Mohd Sohaimi Ishak of the Seri Alam district revealed that the elderly woman lodged a report at the police station after discovering the scam. In her report, she claimed she was introduced to an investment platform called PFOU. The victim also added that she joined the platform in July 2024 after several advertisements on Facebook convinced her beyond every reasonable doubt.

Malaysian accountant loses RM460,888 to scammers

According to her report, after she signified interest in joining the investment group, she was sent a link that would lead her to the general group. While she was in the general group, the bad actors deployed several individuals to explain how the investment worked. They gave her the scoops, convincing her further about the platform’s legitimacy. She highlighted that their explanations were mainly about the returns she would get from her investment.

The victim, after taking months to deliberate on the investment opportunity, decided to invest in December. According to her, she was nearing retirement, and what better way to tie funds to an investment that would see you recoup massive returns. In her statement, the Malaysian accountant claimed that the scammers directed her to download an application called UVKXE. The application was used to monitor investments and profits in real-time.

The Malaysian accountant was asked to make several payments, with her statement detailing that she made three, which totaled RM460,888. The victim made these payments to two different bank accounts, making the payments between December 30 and January 16. After paying, she was able to view her investments and profits from the UVKXE application as the scammers said. She saw her investment and profits of about 1,219,907 in USDT (RM5.5 million).

Police promise to apprehend the criminals

According to the statement, things started to go south after the Malaysian accountant notified the scammers about her plans to withdraw her profits. She was asked to pay RM550,152 as management fees. Sohaimi said that the victim, realizing she had been scammed, chose not to pay the fee, and subsequently filed a report with the police.

According to Sohaimi, the authorities will do everything in their power to apprehend the criminals and make them face the full wrath of the law. The case has also been filed under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. If the criminals are found guilty, they will be sentenced to prison for 10 years, caned, and asked to pay a fine after conviction.

The investigation will also include money mule accounts, which translates into a fine of RM 100,000 and imprisonment. “The investigations will also cover the involvement of money mule accounts under Section 424 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum fine of RM100,000, imprisonment of up to seven years, or both,” Sohaimi added.

Mohd Sohaimi also urged the general public to be alert to the rising trends of fake investment scams. The criminals usually feed on their victims’ ignorance, by promising them very high returns. Once the victims see the returns, they do not bother to do background checks and begin to send funds to the criminals. With crypto gaining mainstream attention, there will be an increase in cases like this, but he urged the public to be cautious and ask experts about these investments before they dabble into it.

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