Malaysia’s securities regulator has warned of a rising number of investment scams promoted on the Telegram messaging application.
Securities Commission Malaysia has received a total of 47 complaints on illegal investment schemes promoted through the app since January, it said in a statement.
“These fraudulent schemes offer non-existent investment opportunities, promising very attractive and risk-free returns within a short span of time,” the commission said.
“They commonly offer unrealistic returns of as high as 1,000% within 24 hours or even within a few hours.”
The commission said the perpetrators often impersonate licensed capital market intermediaries by using their names, logos, credentials, websites and other details of the legitimate entities to promote the illegal schemes.
The scammers will create a public group on Telegram to promote these investment packages that are usually accompanied by fake testimonies.
As a Muslim majority country, many financial scams in Malaysia are advertised as being Shariah-compliant.
Potential investors will be asked to directly message the representatives, not the legitimate financial institution being impersonated, to join in the various investment packages offered.
“Additionally, investors are often instructed to deposit monies into personal bank accounts of individuals who claim to represent a legitimate entity, or into an unrelated corporate account,” the commission said in its warning.
“To lend credence and to lure unsuspecting victims, perpetrators usually claim that their entity and/or the investment schemes are approved by financial authorities.”
The Securities Commission Malaysia is a statutory body reporting to the Minister of Finance and is the country’s sole regulatory agency for the regulation and development of capital markets.
- George Russell
READ MORE:
With $7.7bn Lost, Cryptoscams Hit A New All-Time High in 2021
Singapore’s MAS to Issue Framework on Sharing Scam Losses – ST
Australian Billionaire Sues Facebook Over Crypto Scam Ads
