A 50-year-old engineer was duped of RM1.195 million after being befriended online and lured into a fraudulent gold investment scheme.

KUALA LUMPUR: An engineer in his 50s has lost RM1.195 million to a sophisticated gold investment scam that began with a mistaken cake delivery.

According to Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa, the victim received a message from an unknown woman on December 25 last year claiming she had sent a cake to his address by mistake.

“The woman later took the opportunity to befriend the victim and a few days later invited him to join an online gold investment scheme with promises of lucrative returns,” he said in a statement.

The victim initially invested RM3,000 into a company account before making 20 additional transactions to eight different company accounts.

He only realised he had been duped and lodged a police report on January 29, with the case now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

Rusdi advised the public to be extremely cautious of investment offers from newly acquainted individuals on social media or messaging apps.

He urged people to verify bank account numbers or company names via the CCID Semakmule Portal at semakmule.rmp.gov.my before any transaction.

As of January 31, 10 companies detected in fraudulent activities have been listed in the CCID Semakmule database.

They include JMC M Trading Ventura and JMC Top Trading, each linked to 18 scam reports, and Rosnitah Mewah Trading Sdn Bhd with 13 reports.

Norbing Renovation Sdn Bhd and Hexbuild Construction & Hardware Sdn Bhd each have 12 reports, while KK Solid Works Sdn Bhd has 11.

Another 10 scam reports each were linked to CVC Grow Star Sdn Bhd, CVCMax Building Sdn Bhd, CICC Vano Trading and AEP Global Enterprise Sdn Bhd.

 The Sun Malaysia