KUALA LUMPUR – The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) recently released a statement to warn the public to be aware of rising cases of investment scams on messaging app, Telegram.
The statement stated that SC received 47 complaints and enquiries regarding illegal investment schemes sent out via Telegram since January this year.
The appeal of these unreal schemes are that they promise low to no risk returns within a short amount of time. Some were reported to promise returns as high as 1,000% within a few hours of investing.
When explaining on how they operate, the SC said that the scammers would start with creating public Telegram groups. The groups would have fake testimonies from previous investors to convince people it is safe. The schemes would also be advertised as “syariah-compliant”.
Once people are interested, they would have to send direct messages to the scammers where they would be sold the different investment packages. After which, the scammers would request for money to be deposited into the personal bank accounts belonging to those that claim to represent credible companies.
The SC said the scammers use different names and some would even pretend to be licensed with investment companies by using the information stolen from websites.
To further prove their legitimacy, these scammers would claim that they are approved by financial authorities.
To avoid getting scammed, the SC advises the public to refer to the SC’s Investor Alert List before doing the investments. The list contains a collection of unauthorised websites, investment products, companies and individuals. The list can be accessed here.
The SC also reminds the public to remain vigilant when it comes to investment schemes particularly those that are low-risk with high returns.
The SC further said that no investment should be deposited into another individual’s personal bank account
Anyone who believes they may have been contacted by similar companies or individuals that offer these schemes, you may lodge a report with the SC’s consumers and investors department at 03-6204 8999 or email them at [email protected]
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