A retired engineer thought that he could peacefully enjoy the rest of his life in comfort after amassing enough money to not worry about anything.

But his beautiful dream of a life of retirement was shattered into pieces after he lost all of his retirement fees to a devastating online cryptocurrency scam has cost the 63-year-old former engineer his RM9.4 million retirement savings.

The victim went to the local Johor state police station on Tuesday in tears, detailing how he was lured into a fraudulent scheme starting in July 2024.

Investment schemes offering unrealistically high profits

The victim first stumbled on a social media advertisement promoting cryptocurrency investment, promising high returns and quick profits.

Out of curiosity, the victim clicked on the link, and was added to a WhatsApp group where he was attended by two individuals who provided him with the investment details, claiming that he could earn up to 50 times the initial amount from this investment.

Entranced by the attractive deal, the victim downloaded and registered on the "investment app" that was supposedly designed to help their users track their investment progress.

Between a span of just three months, the victim transferred a more than 9 million Malaysian Ringgit to 11 different bank accounts. While the victims had his own suspicion, but all his doubts were dispelled when he saw the app showed that he earned a total profit of 88 million in his account.

But when the victim attempted to withdraw his investments, he was hit with another 800,000 Malaysian Ringgit processing fee. Refusing to pay the additional payment, they tried to contact the individual involved only to realise that the point of contact has cut all forms of contact with him. That is finally when the victim realised he has been scammed and manipulated all along.

Investment scam that always uses the same "formula"

In a similar case, a 46-year-old unemployed woman has fallen into a similar scam and lost a staggering $2 million dollars.

The woman was tricked into investing in a non-existent company, Arcadia Equity Co Limited, after seeing an advertisement on Facecook in August 2024.

The victim began with an investment of $250 Malaysian Ringgit. But later increased her investment and deposited a total amount of $250,000 Malaysian Ringgit into the investment account through 15 transactions.

It was reported that the woman even went to the extent of borrowing money from her friends to invest in the scheme but received no returns as promised. When the victim tried to reach out to the point of contact, she was persuaded to invest even more money into the scheme to maximize her profits.

The woman eventually realised that she had been scammed and lodged a police report, leading to an ongoing investigation into the fraudulent operation.

Local authorities extending a helping hand to verify the investment schemes

Malaysian state police are warning citizens of similar investment schemes, which is often characterised by offering unrealistically high returns in a short period of time.

State police is also encouraging the public to approach relevant agencies such as the Royal Malaysia Police, Bank Negara Malaysia, or the Securities Commission for help to verify the validity of the investment scheme.