House contractor on Facebook allegedly cons eight clients of RM1.85 mln

MELAKA - Eight individuals from various states claimed they were cheated of a total of RM1.85 million by a couple who masqueraded as house contractors on Facebook.

One of the victims, Che Din, 50, lost RM245,000 after engaging the service of the couple’s company.

He had earlier seen the couple’s company advertisement on Facebook in January 2022.

"I contacted the company said to be in Batu Berendam and based on the Facebook advertisement, the company has clients in Johor, Selangor and even as far as Sabah.

"I called the marketing officer of the company and agreed to use their service to draw up a plan and build a house on my land,” he told a media conference here.

He said that based on the convincing advertisement which displayed model houses completed by the company and the progress construction of other projects on Facebook, both parties agreed to visit his house site in Muar, Johor.

However, the marketing officer and the couple who are purportedly the chief executive officer and managing director of the company could not be contacted after he paid RM15,000 for the house plan and RM230,000 as progress payment of the house construction for the first phase.

"In fact to date, the original copy of the house construction contract had not been given to me. The company in Batu Berendam and its Facebook site have closed but it is believed to be actively seeking more victims,” he said.

Another victim, Ahmad Fuad, 38, was cheated of RM15,000 after using the company's service to draw his house plan and was even promised that the house plan would be ready within three months.

"However, after making the payment, the company's marketing officer started making various excuses and finally could not be contacted," said Ahmad Fuad who is a restaurant operator in Bukit Beruang here.

He also explained that so far there are six other individuals who are also victims of the syndicate's fraud with an estimated loss of RM1.85 million.

"I managed to track down these six other victims by chance who each suffered a loss of between RM190,000 to RM300,000 and we believe there are many more victims of this syndicate and several police reports have been made.

"We hope that an investigation will be carried out immediately to discourage more people from falling victim to the couple," he said. - BERNAMA