Johor police chief M Kumar said the 59-year-old man had received a message via WhatsApp from one “Iris Ng”, who urged him to invest in stock trading, promising a profit of 580% within two months.

The victim was then instructed to download an app, to register and monitor his investment account, Bernama reported.

Kumar said the victim made 15 transactions to several bank accounts totalling RM1,400,500 between November last year and the beginning of this month.

The trading app showed his investments had accrued a profit of RM4.7 million.

However, when the victim decided to withdraw the profit, he only received RM7,500. He was told to make an additional payment of RM80,000 if he wanted to withdraw the entire sum.

Kumar said the man then realised he had been cheated and made a police report yesterday.

He advised the public not to be easily duped by any online investment offer that promised high returns in a short time.