{
  "id": 8371627,
  "title": "Contractor loses nearly RM150,000 in bogus cryptocurrency investment scam",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/contractor-loses-nearly-rm150-000-in-bogus-cryptocurrency-investment",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-19T03:07:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/regional/2026/09/1535955/contractor-loses-nearly-rm150000-bogus-cryptocurrency-investment-scam"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A construction contractor from Malaysia has lost nearly RM150,000 in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme, according to police. The victim, aged 59, became involved in the scheme after being introduced to it on the social media platform TikTok by an individual claiming to be from South Korea. The syndicate promised the victim high returns on his investment and instructed him to make 14 payments to 11 different accounts, amounting to a total of RM144,781. The victim, who had business savings and was aware of scam-related crimes on social media, particularly Facebook, ultimately realized he had been deceived when the promised returns did not materialize. The police are investigating the case under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which deals with cheating.",
  "summary": "KUALA TERENGGANU: A construction contractor lost nearly RM150,000 after falling victim to a bogus cryptocurrency investment scheme.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}