Johor engineer loses RM261,000 after getting scammed on Tinder

You’ve probably heard of Tinder, the popular dating app that lets you ‘swipe’ on profiles of people near you looking for a match. However, one Johor-based engineer looking for love found herself caught up in a scam instead, and ended up losing RM261,000 instead.

As reported by Malay Mail, the 40-year-old local engineer had gotten in touch with a man on Tinder in early July this year. Sometime in mid-July, the engineer was then tricked by the scammer, who duped her into buying an investment scheme coupon.

“The suspect had promised the victim that she would receive a return of five per cent of her initial investment within 30 minutes after she purchased the coupon,” – Superintendent Fariz Ammar Abdullah

Johor Baru North Deputy Police Chief Superintendent Fariz Ammar Abdullah added that the victim then proceeded to make 17 online bank transactions into various accounts given to her by the scammer. She was also given a link to a website which he claimed would show her the profits made, but the link was dead and couldn’t be accessed.

Eventually, the engineer could no longer contact the scammer, and ended up losing a total of RM261,000 to him.

According to Superintendent Fariz, the case is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating, with the scammer in question facing up to 10 years in jail along with potential caning and fines. He also warned the public to be more careful especially when making large transactions with strangers and virtual acquaintances.

This is just the latest scam in a string of cases involving Malaysians getting duped online. Just recently for example, CIMB Bank made headlines after Dr Rafidah Abdullah revealed on social media that RM13,000 had suddenly been taken out of her account in the early hours in the morning.