KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Malaysian celebrity Winnie Kok, better known as Winnie K, has revealed that she lost RM380,000 to a man who posed as a “Datuk” and promised her a lucrative ambassador role for a luxury property project.
Kok said the scam began in September 2023 after a close friend, who is also a host, introduced her to the man known as “Datuk A”, who claimed to be a property developer, The Star reported.
“He showed me his upcoming project and prospects, which my friend had previously mentioned to me,” she was quoted saying at a press conference.
According to Kok, the man promised to appoint her as an exclusive brand ambassador with a one-year contract worth between RM800,000 and RM1 million.
She said they met again after he returned from China in late September 2023, during which he asked for her help to start the project.
“He showed me his WeChat e-wallet balance, which showed a huge amount of money as an assurance,” she said, adding that he claimed he could not access the funds while in Malaysia.
Kok said she was initially reluctant to lend him money as the funds were meant for her mother’s medical treatment for dementia.
“But he was very convincing, he said he would return the money in two or three days, so I believed him and transferred RM30,000 for the first payment,” she said.
She later transferred a total of RM380,000 to him over two weeks before he vanished, prompting her to lodge a police report.
“I felt mentally unstable and got stressed out after losing all my hard-earned money… I’m here today to share my story and raise awareness,” she said.
