Sarawak Retiree Loses RM914,000 to Fake AI Trading Platform That Showed Phantom Profits

A retired government servant in Sarawak has lost more than 900,000 ringgit after falling victim to an online investment scam that used the appeal of artificial intelligence to manufacture an illusion of extraordinary financial returns.

The 56-year-old victim first encountered the scheme through a Facebook advertisement in late December 2025. The advertisement was posted under the name Arctic Tern Advisory and caught his attention with promises of high returns generated through an AI-driven automated trading system. After making contact with an individual named Kamil, the victim was added to a WhatsApp group where several people presented themselves as representatives of the company, projecting an air of legitimacy and professionalism.

He was encouraged to begin with a modest entry point of just 300 ringgit, a deliberate tactic used in many scam operations to lower psychological resistance and establish a sense of trust before larger sums are requested. The platform through which the investment was supposedly conducted was called Setia Capital Trading.

What followed was a carefully managed performance. The suspects allegedly gave the victim access to a trading account interface that displayed growing profits, at one point showing a balance of over 87,000 ringgit. This fabricated display of returns is a common feature of investment scams and serves a specific purpose: it convinces the victim that the system is working and that more money invested means more money earned.

When the victim attempted to access those apparent profits, he was met with a series of additional charges. The suspects demanded fees described as redemption charges, bank security fees, and transaction limit upgrade costs, all framed as necessary procedural steps to release his returns. Each new fee was presented as the final barrier between the victim and his money, a psychological pattern designed to keep victims paying rather than walking away.

Over the course of roughly two and a half months, from late December 2025 through to early March this year, the victim made 88 separate transactions to 32 different bank accounts spread across six banking institutions. The total amount transferred came to 914,209 ringgit. The use of multiple accounts across different banks is a deliberate method to obscure money trails and complicate any subsequent investigation.

The victim only came to the realisation that something was wrong after repeated attempts to withdraw either his original capital or his supposed profits were met with continued failure and further demands. By that point, the financial damage had already been done.

Mukah police chief DSP Muhamad Rizal Alias confirmed that a report had been lodged and that preliminary investigations are now underway. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which covers cheating offences.

The case is a textbook example of what authorities and financial regulators consistently warn against: unsolicited investment opportunities encountered on social media, promises of accelerated or guaranteed returns, platforms with no verifiable regulatory standing, and fee demands that appear after profits have supposedly accumulated. The involvement of AI as a selling point adds a contemporary layer to a fraud structure that has existed for decades, exploiting public fascination with emerging technology to lend false credibility to schemes that are designed from the outset to take money and disappear.