Another senior citizen falls prey to crypto scam, losing hundreds of thousands

Man in his 60s becomes victim of same scheme that saw elderly woman swindled of RM10 mil

Pic for illustration purposes only. – Pixabay pic, January 27, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR – Following the recent incident of an octogenarian losing RM10 million to a cryptocurrency investment scam, another senior citizen has become a victim of the same scheme, which promised lucrative returns.

In a statement earlier, Nilai district police chief Abdul Malik Hasim said the victim, in his early 60s, claimed to have been added to a Telegram group by an individual last October and encouraged to invest in the cryptocurrency via the ACCERX Hong Kong platform.

“The victim initially invested RM8,000 and made a profit of RM15,000.

“The man was then encouraged to increase his total investment to RM228,000 via 13 transactions to nine different accounts,” he added.

The victim realised he had been duped when he could not withdraw his investment after being told that he was involved in money-laundering activities, and he then lodged a police report yesterday, Malik said.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Earlier, it was reported that an 80-year-old woman lost over RM10 million to scammers who convinced her in a WhatsApp group chat to invest in a non-existent scheme.

Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the woman lodged a police report last night about a fake investment scheme using cryptocurrency.

The retiree said she was asked to join the scheme after being added to a WhatsApp group chat, where the group administrators promoted the cryptocurrency investment scheme on a website called “accerx.com.”

“The complainant said she dealt with a man who told her he had advanced her money to invest in cryptocurrency. She was asked to repay him once her investment was successful.

“She made 13 transactions to multiple bank accounts in the names of eight different companies,” Ramli said in a statement. – January 27, 2024