Dozens of disgruntled customers have come forward after claiming they were duped by a Malaysian influencer who sold them lab-grown diamonds instead of the real deal.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong said that at least 30 of the victims had lost a collective amount of around 1 million ringgit (US$239,569) since 2023 to the influencer.

He explained that the influencer offered jewellery and good fortune trinkets to her customers but had used misleading terms to convince them that they were real diamonds.

“After we sent them in for lab analysis, we found that it was lab-grown,” he said.

Besides the diamonds, lawyer Esther Hor, who represented the group, said make-up products sold to some of the victims were portrayed as chemical-free. But it was later found to contain mercury.

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New type of diamond shakes up the US$90 billion industry

New type of diamond shakes up the US$90 billion industry

“At least 30 police reports all over the country have been filed. We also have Singaporean victims with around three to four reports lodged in Singapore as well,” she said.