Beware of Casanovas on the prowl
Chong warns women to be wary of charmers who gain sympathy to get money
KUALA LUMPUR: Women have been warned to be wary of sweet talkers who may be out to swindle them.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said the practice of these “Casanovas” is to strike up friendships with women, reel them in by telling them sad life stories, and then cheat them out of their money.
“Last year, we had 20 such cases,” he told a press conference at Wisma MCA here yesterday.
In three of the cases, the conmen had also secretly taken nude photographs of the women they cheated, he added.
Chong highlighted one case of a woman left pregnant by her lover, who also cheated her mother out of RM91,000.
“She thought she had found (her true love) but the modus operandi of these Casanovas is always the same,” said Chong, adding that the man could be prosecuted under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The 36-year-old woman from Simpang Renggam in Johor said she met the man – a 40-year-old known as Looi – through a mobile phone app and moved to Kuala Lumpur with him last February.
She said she found out she was pregnant a month later, and Looi promised to marry her soon.
However, in April, he claimed to be facing financial difficulties and approached her 74-year-old mother, who then lent him RM76,000.
The victim added that Looi promised to pay her mother back within three months and issued cheques as “repayment”.
He made up excuses when the cheques bounced, and disappeared four days after the couple’s daughter was born in December.
“I always suspected he may not be trustworthy, but when I wanted to break up with him, I found out I was already pregnant,” the woman said at the press conference.
She said she later received a visit from debt collectors who claimed that Looi owed them RM215,000, and told her that he also used the addresses of two other women in Penang and Johor when applying for loans from them.
“My mother still believes he will come back and return her money. I don’t know what ‘spell’ he has cast on her,” the victim said, adding that she wants to prevent other women from being duped by him.