Hello Grasshoppa,
This may be a Guide for you just in case you are approached by your long lost friends or your new best friend for some good investment deals. If you are into investing, this may be something you might come across once or more but how do we know which investment is a scam & which is legit? One thing for sure, those investment scammers will always take the extra mile to make their scam looks real.
Below I have listed some of the Investment Scam Warning Sign for Your Reference :
1. Guaranteed High Yield Return & No Risk
As we all know, there are no such thing as Guaranteed Return & No Risk unless it’s Fixed Deposit. Remember Grasshoppa, “Durian Runtuh” Investment is not possible unless it’s a scam.
2. No Proof of Investment or Non Reliable Proof
You may want to ask those agent on where they invest their investors money. Some of them might not have any supporting proof to prove their investment is real. Or you may have some that are able to share some information that seems to be dodgy.
3. Not endorsed by Bank Negara or Securities Commission
You can refer Financial Consumer Alert List by Bank Negara & Securities Commission for further detaide. There are long list of companies that on the Alert List so make sure you check it out.
4. They Pressure You Into Making Quick Decision
Normally those agent will tell this “You trust me lah.”, “You will miss the boat if you dont invest now.”, “Many people already invest & earn so how can this be a scam?” & many other convincing words to pressure you to make a decision. Calm down. There is never too late in investment. Don’t let other people influence your decision making especially when it comes to YOUR MONEY.
Types of Common Investment Scam in Malaysia :
1. Forex
2. Agar Wood
3. Palm Oil
4. Arowana Farm
5. Gold
6. Money Game
7. Cryptocurrency / ICO
8. Multilevel Marketing (MLM)
9. Hotel / Land / Property Deal
It’s important to do your homework & investigate those companies before you invest.
History On Investment Scams :
1. Bernie Madoff
This guy is definitely a Legend to begin with. During the Court Trial after his arrest in 2008, he confessed that he ran his scam as early as 1991 . According to some documents that was presented in Court, his scam started as early as 1960s. List of his clients are some of the richest & most influential people in the world. Some International Banks are also his victim such as HSBC Bank. Estimated amount of his client fund is $64.8 Billions & that makes him the Largest Ponzi Scammers in the World. Want to know more story about his Scandal? You can get his book here.
2. JJPTR (JJ Poor To Rich)
First of all, how can we believe a 29 years old man that claims he studied Finance in USA & able to generate consistent return of 20% a month? Introducer will get 5% Commission Monthly upon successful referral. This “Too Good To Be True” money was offered by this Penang based company that went bust in 2017. The Founder of JJPTR claimed that their company account was hacked & USD400,000 went missing.
Suspected Investment Scams :
1. LaVida Coin
Famous Beauty Mogul, Dato’ Vida have launched her Cryptocurrency called LaVida Coin which she plans to raise $1.5 Billion to fund a Online Channel, Payment Gateway & a Mosque. Dato’ Vida have personally guaranteed Return of Investment for LaVida Coin since the Token is cheap now. That’s a huge statement especially for Cryptocurrecy which is known to be volatile. Bank Negara have recently added Lavida Coin in their Financial Consumer Alert List as per NST News.
Conclusion :
There are hundreds of Investment Scam out there & what can you do to avoid it? It is always important to do your homework in detail since the money you are investing is your hard earned money. Don’t be greedy over some so called good investment deals as it might end up to be an Investment Scam. If you find any suspicious Investment Scam out there, feel free to report it to Bank Negara via this link.
OSS!
I was just contacted about a durian investment giving 19.86% per year! Company called Plantation International. Never heard of them before. They just contact me out of the blue. I report to PDPC. How do people fall for such things? Be careful all!
Thanks for sharing the information David 🙂
I’ve the same doubt as I was also contacted by them. Any action or advise replied to you from PDPC and how do I check if it’s legitimate from PDPC ?
DAVID WEBB- I am based in Hong Kong and also just been contacted by Plantation International. Hear is what they wrote-
Dear ,
Hope that you are well. Due to an overwhelming amount of feedback we have decided to produce a one page snapshot summary regarding our Musang King Durian tree plantation opportunity in Johor, Malaysia that is offering a 19.86%+ Annualized Returns.
This document was created with you in mind and aimed to assist you and answer any questions that you may have, in an easy to use and in a quick and effective manner.
Daniel Shaw
Director Of Client Relations
Plantations International
Plantations International
MK Durian Harvests Sdn. Bhd.
No. 338 Jalan Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 50400
Direct: +60 3 9212 2107
Office: +60 3 9212 7281
Good sharing. It is common in Malaysia with such “investment” opportunity. It’s important to verify before invest in such company.
so are they scam or not got contacted too
What’s the recommended way of verifying this ? I searched through BNM website but this company is not “blacklisted”. Appreciate some advices here as I made the first payment to them, and I’m trying to get a refund from them.
Let me share my experience about a scam in Malaysia involving durian trees few years ago. The company promised “guarantee” high return when the durian tree can be harvested in the 6th year onwards. My brother and I were convinced it was a legitimate investment as the company let us see the durian trees before we pay them over RM100K. Before year 4, the company has been closed down without us even realising it. The certificate of ownership was virtually useless as the landowner claimed all the trees on his land belongs to him now.
Lesson learnt. Before you invest in anything, ask yourself who will GUARANTEE that the company providing the “guarantee return” will still exist in the next few years???
Thanks for your sharing Ben.
Hi Guys , I also received email from Daniel Shaw and just called by Steve Kerr with the same offer
Hi AA, did you manage to get your refund? My husband was also paid huge amount to this company. I’ve spoken to their staff at Tun Razak and Mid valley office. Sound so suspicious and fishy. I know its a scam. I said if i cannot get details information about the musang king project, i will lodge a police report.
Then sudently one “Paul ” return call to me claimed that he was from legal department for the company.He said for refund process my husband needs to call him becoz the contract name was between my husband and the company. But i guess the money will definitely gone
if you want to try may be you can call this so call paul. I guest they have so many english name.0176472650
If he did not manage to get the money back then we will lodge a police report.
Hi Nina, yes that’s the same Paul whom talked to us. My husband however decided to reduce the investment to a minimum amount as he’s still have faith in them 🙁 though I don’t agree with him. How about yours ? what made you suspicious of the legitimacy ? What sort of details you requested from them ? because they provided a certificate with lot# for us, their website has also full of testimonial and on site videos.