A WOMAN lost RM132,860 after she tried to purchase a non-existent used car through Facebook on June 1.

Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said the victim had seen an advertisement about the sale of a used car on Facebook and proceeded to contact the owner of the Facebook account.

“The suspect then contacted the victim through WhatsApp and introduced himself as the seller of the car. He sent the victim a photograph of his identity card to reassure the victim,” he said in a statement last night.

Yusri said the victim then made payment for the car through online bank transfers to the account number provided by the suspect,

She was tricked into not being able to cancel the purchase on grounds the insurance was registered in the victim’s name, and if anything happened the victim would be held accountable, police said.

Yusri said the victim made a total of 25 payments to six bank accounts, totalling RM132,860 before she realised she had been cheated when she tried to borrow money from a friend who alerted her.

“The victim’s father then took her to the police station to file a police report. The case is being investigated under section 420 of the penal code,” he added. – Bernama, June 8, 2023.