Female retiree loses almost RM200,000 as victim of ‘love scam’
KUALA TERENGGANU: A retired woman was shocked when she realized she was defrauded of almost RM200,000 after becoming a victim of a love scam syndicate on social media.
Kuala Terengganu District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rahim Md Din said the incident started early last July after the victim met a man through Facebook.
He explained that the victim dealt with the suspect through the WhatsApp application before being offered a check worth US$145,000 (about RM650,000).
“After that, the victim was ordered to make a payment to release the promised check where the victim had made 13 transactions into one account from 10 to 17 August involving a payment of RM124,000.
“The victim then met another man through Facebook before dealing through WhatsApp and was offered a gift of cash and jewelry,” he said when contacted.
He said, after that the victim was once again asked to make various payments to release the shipment with Customs involving 13 transactions to two different accounts within six days starting on August 23 last with a payment value of RM75,550.
However, the victim did not receive the promised gift and suffered a loss of RM199,550.
The victim who realized she was deceived made a police report last Thursday and the case was investigated according to Section 420 of the Penal Code.
Abdul Rahim meanwhile reminded the public not to be easily deceived by individuals known through social media to avoid being entangled in fraud such as love scams .
source – Nur Fazlizai Ali
