One Click, RM1 Million Gone: Penang Retiree’s Social Media Scam Nightmare

A retired government servant in Penang has suffered devastating financial losses after falling victim to an online share investment scam he encountered through social media late last year. The 67-year-old man lost more than RM1 million, wiping out much of his savings.

Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the victim only realised he had been scammed recently and lodged a police report at the Barat Daya district police headquarters on Thursday. Investigations revealed that the scam began in August, when the man befriended a woman on Facebook.

According to police, the woman later introduced him to a supposed share investment known as DAC Pro, which was promoted under the name Navis Management Sdn Bhd. She instructed the victim to continue communication via WhatsApp, where further details of the investment were shared.

Datuk Azizee said the suspect promised exceptionally high returns of up to 200 per cent within a short period. Enticed by the offer, the victim agreed to participate and was told to download the DAC Pro application to register as an investor.

Between Oct 8 and Dec 10, the retiree made 22 payment transactions amounting to RM760,200, transferring the money into six different bank accounts provided by the suspect. During this time, he was shown projected investment profits totalling more than RM7.48 million, giving him the impression that the investment was performing extremely well. However, he never received any actual returns.

When the victim later attempted to withdraw the profits, he was told that he needed to make an advance payment of three per cent of the total profits as a condition for withdrawal. Believing this to be legitimate, he proceeded to transfer additional funds.

From Dec 18 to Dec 24, the man made a further six transfers amounting to RM242,200 into another bank account supplied by the suspect. Despite these payments, he was still unable to access any of the supposed profits.

The victim eventually realised something was wrong when he continued to be asked to make more payments, allegedly for tax purposes, with no sign of his money being released. By then, his total losses had reached RM1,002,400.

Police are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and have reminded the public to be cautious of investment offers promising unusually high returns, especially those introduced through social media or online acquaintances.