A former company director, 72, lost RM1.403 million to an online investment syndicate using the name ‘Shanghai Futures Exchange’ while a machinery attendant, 62, lost RM1.294 million to an online investment scheme known as ‘Global Finance Trends XA’. — Picture by Firdaus Latif (New users only) It's tax relief season! Get up to RM300 when you save with Versa! Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply. Saturday, 16 May 2026 8:55 AM MYT GEORGE TOWN, May 16 — Two senior citizens including a former company director lost a total of almost RM2.7 million after being duped by online investment syndicates that promised lucrative returns through separate investment platforms, recently.Penang police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the first case involved a 62-year-old man who worked as a machinery attendant and suffered a loss of RM1.294 million after being scammed in an online investment scheme known as “Global Finance Trends XA”.“The Commercial Crime Investigation Division of the Seberang Perai Tengah district police headquarters (SPT) received a report from the victim yesterday and the man is said to have become interested in the scheme after seeing an investment advertisement on the Facebook in March before being contacted by a female suspect via WhatsApp.“The suspect offered investments that allegedly originated in China under the name of the company Citic Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd, promising high profits and at the initial stage, the suspect only gave local investment tips and the profit predictions given were found to be accurate, causing the victim to begin to believe in the scheme,” he said in a statement last night.He said the victim was then asked to download the “Global Finance Trends XA” application for registration and investment transactions before making 28 payment transactions totaling RM1.397 million to a CIMB bank account in the name of the company between April 6 and May 4.Azizee said the man only received a return of RM103,000 before realising he had been cheated after failing to withdraw the RM1 million profit displayed on the application.In a separate case, he said a former female company director, 72, also lost RM1.403 million after being scammed by an online investment syndicate using the name “Shanghai Futures Exchange”.“The victim met a foreign man via Facebook in July 2023 before the relationship continued via the Line application. The suspect also sent a picture of his identity card to convince the victim that he really existed before offering an investment scheme that promised high profits in a short period of time.“The woman was then asked to visit a website via a link provided for membership registration and investment purposes and between Nov 27 last year and Feb 5, the victim made 53 transactions totaling RM1.403 million into 30 different bank accounts including 26 individual accounts and four company accounts,” he said.According to him, the victim only realised she had been scammed after failing to withdraw the RM30 million profit displayed on the application, besides her account being blocked while the suspect could not be contacted.He said further investigations were underway and both cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, for fraud. — Bernama