Telegram Investment Promises Turn Costly as Civil Servant Loses Nearly RM100,000 in 2 Separate Scams

A government employee from Terengganu found herself nearly RM100,000 poorer after falling prey to not one, but two fraudulent investment operations encountered through the Telegram messaging application. The 38-year-old civil servant's ordeal unfolded over just a matter of days and has since been taken up by police as a criminal investigation.

According to Kuala Terengganu district police chief ACP Azli Mohd Noor, the woman's troubles began on May 1 when she came across an advertisement on Telegram that promoted an investment opportunity offering substantial returns within a remarkably short window of just six hours. Tempted by the prospect of fast gains, she opted for a starter package priced at RM1,000.

What followed was a textbook example of a technique commonly used by scammers to progressively drain victims of larger sums. After her initial payment, the victim was repeatedly contacted and told she needed to make additional payments in order to unlock or withdraw the profits she had supposedly earned. Trusting that her investment was performing as advertised, she continued transferring money. In total, she made 12 separate payments to four different bank accounts between May 1 and May 7, amounting to RM48,965.

Less than a week later, still operating through the same Telegram platform, the victim was drawn into a second scheme. She was once again promised impressive returns, this time within thirty minutes. Over three days, she made further bank transfers totalling RM50,311, bringing her combined losses across both schemes to RM99,276.

The moment that finally triggered her suspicion came when the fraudsters demanded yet another payment, this time claiming she needed to pay an additional RM38,527 to cover unspecified costs before she could access her funds. Recognising the pattern too late, she realised she had been deceived and lodged a police report on the afternoon of May 14.

The case is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which deals with cheating offences. The incident is a sobering reminder of how scammers operating through social media and messaging apps are able to build false trust rapidly, using polished presentations and the lure of effortless returns to convince victims to part with increasingly large sums of money.

Investigators and consumer protection advocates have consistently warned the public to be deeply sceptical of any investment opportunity promoted through messaging applications, particularly those promising high returns over extremely short timeframes. Legitimate investments carry risk and do not guarantee profits within hours or minutes. Any platform requesting repeated top up payments as a condition of releasing earnings is almost certainly fraudulent, and members of the public are urged to verify the legitimacy of any investment platform through official channels before committing any funds.