Hidden Danger in Telegram: Victim Scammed RM4,500 in Online Trading Fraud

In recent years, global financial regulators have been urging the crack down on fraudulent investment advertisements on social media. Such ads lead investors to illegal trading platforms, causing huge losses to numerous victims.

In early November, Malaysian investor Zarinah was scammed out of RM4,500 due to a fake trading scheme offered in a Telegram group.

The group where Zarinah fell victim was called “Amanah Saham Nasional Berhand”. The victim did not know who had invited her into the group or when she was invited, but by the time she found it, other members were already talking about investments.

_{Scammers taking about the investment}

The administrator offered a seemingly attractive investment offer. It promised to bring RM15,000 of profit with only RM500, which means a 3000% return. What's more, the administrator also claimed that the investor does not have to bear any loss. Even if the investment fails, the investor can still get her principal back.

_{Scammer promised lucrative returns}

However, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Zarinah accepted the offer out of a desire to make a quick buck. Within only three days, she made three transactions totaling RM4,500 to three bank accounts of the scammer.

_{Information of the group and the admin}

The admin sent a screenshot of the trading account, making the investor believe she has a balance of more than RM90,000 on the trading platform “Cryptos Global Forex”.

_{The screenshot of 'trading account'}

After transferring money over and over again, Zarinah realized that something was wrong and told the administrator that she wanted to withdraw and quit. However, the administrator did not agree with her withdrawal but encouraged her to continue.

Finally, Zarinah chose to call the police. Similar scams happen all the time in Malaysia, and fraudsters often use shell companies to create “money mule” accounts, making it difficult to trace the victim's money. Whether or not Zarinah will recover her money remains an open question.