Businessman Cheated Of RM140,000 In Online Car Deal

IPOH, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- A businessman lost RM147,600 after being scammed in a car purchase deal offered through Facebook recently, according to Perak police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that on April 15, the 53-year-old businessman saw an advertisement for a Mercedes-Benz GLA 200 AMG Sport 4matic 1.3A on the social media platform and clicked on the WhatsApp link provided.

He said the victim contacted the suspect, who introduced himself as a salesperson at a car dealership in Selangor.

The suspect offered the car for RM113,000 with a monthly instalment of RM1,328.80, and also convinced the victim that he had won a lucky draw prize of an iPad.

Azizi said the victim made a registration payment of RM2,680 into the bank account provided by the suspect and was promised that the car would be delivered to him on April 19.

"Between April 17 and July 25, the victim made 32 transactions into nine different bank accounts provided by the suspect, totalling RM144,920, for various payments including insurance, road tax, AP permit, import duty, account activation, sales agreement letter and stamp duty," he said in a statement today.

Azizi said the suspect continued to ask the victim for further payments amounting to RM20,000 for the expired sales agreement and stamp duty.

The victim, who began to suspect the process was too complicated, filed a police report on Aug 6.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Kuala Terengganu district police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor said a civil servant lost RM99,000 after being scammed by a car sale syndicate on the Telegram app. 

He said that last Thursday, the 50-year-old man responded to an advertisement on a Perodua Alza car, inquiring about purchasing it from an individual known as Shahrizan.

"After some discussion, the victim agreed to buy the car for RM26,000 and made full payment to the bank account provided by the suspect.

"However, after completing the payment, the suspect asked the victim to deposit additional money for customs deposit costs. The suspect promised to refund the money once the transaction was completed," he said when contacted today.

Azli said the victim, who is from Kuala Terengganu, made five payments into two accounts at different banks using his Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings.

However, the suspect continued to deceive the victim by requesting more money for various reasons.

"Feeling cheated, the victim refused to comply with the requests and lodged a police report last Sunday,” he said.

-- BERNAMA