Woman in Johor loses over RM142,000 to love scammer

JOHOR BARU, July 18 — A woman here was cheated of over RM142,000 after she fell victim to a love scam by a person she met online about four months ago.

The victim, who is in her 40s and works at an educational institution here, lodged a police report after she found out that her virtual romance was a honey-trap to cheat her savings.

Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the victim and the male suspect became acquainted somewhere at the end of March.

He said the suspect, who was supposedly abroad, initially contacted the victim through Facebook Messenger before moving to the WhatsApp application where their relationship grew closer.

“After a while under the guise of romance, the suspect informed the victim that he is coming to Malaysia to settle his late father’s death compensation claim with a company in Sarawak.

“The suspect also requested financial assistance from the victim to pay for the cost of his accommodation during his visit.

“Additionally, the suspect also claimed that he needed to make a payment to the World Bank before being allowed to withdrawal US$5.5 million that was owed to him.

“The victim was also promised a generous amount from the withdrawal if she could provide the initial financial assistance,” said Kamarul Zaman in a statement today.

He said the victim was attracted to the suspect’s offer and later made several monetary transactions between April 11 and June 12, totalling RM142,080.

“The victim later realised she had been cheated after another woman contacted and informed her that she was also a victim through the same modus operandi.

“Following that, the victim lodged a police report yesterday,” said Kamarul Zaman.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

On a separate matter, Kamarul Zaman said that from January 1 to July 15, the Johor police had recorded a total of 64 fraud cases involving victims who were educators with losses amounting to RM2.58 million.

He urged the public to exercise caution and not be easily deceived and become victims of fraud by any individual that they just met through social media.

“If the public suspects that they are scam victims, they can contact the National Scam Response Centre at 997 to block the outflow of money from the suspect's account,” he said.