Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) director Ramli Yoosuf said the 42-year-old victim started investing in the scheme in July last year after coming across an advertisement on Facebook, Bernama reported.

“The victim made 26 transactions to 14 different bank accounts.

“Despite seeing profits in his investment account, the victim was asked to make further payments whenever he tried to withdraw money, prompting him to file a police report on Feb 7,” he said in a statement today.

Ramli said so far the police have received 44 reports about this same investment scheme, with total losses exceeding RM33 million.

He added that the syndicate used advanced technology to deceive victims into believing they had made a profit.

“The CCID would like to remind the public that almost all reported cases involving cryptocurrency are scams.

“Investors were deceived by websites displaying false profits, some of which reach tens of millions of ringgit,” he said.

Ramli urged anyone who had participated in the investment scheme to stop making payments to the company and immediately file a report.

He also advised the public to conduct a thorough check before participating in any investment scheme, especially those offering excessively high profits.

“Get more information from official sources such as the CCID’s Semakmule portal, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission before engaging in any investment scheme,” he said.