Retired nurse loses RM210,000 to Love Scam

ALOR SETAR: A retired nurse from Jitra became the latest victim to fall for the Love Scam, ending up not only with a broken heart but also losing RM210,000 of her hard-earned money in the process, police said yesterday.

Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Supt Annuar Amri Abd Muluf said the 65-year-old claimed she was duped by an individual she had befriended via the ‘Twoo' (Meet New People) online application last year.

The suspect, who introduced himself as ‘Zang Lee Felix' and claimed to be of English and Chinese/Korean parentage, as well as employed in an international shipping company, gained her sympathy when he told her he was a divorcee whose child had died in a road accident in England.

“At some point of this online friendship, the suspect told her that his business venture was facing financial issues and he needed some help, after which the victim transferred RM1,700 in an account that he provided,” Annuar Amri said in a statement here yesterday.

He said sometime after that, the suspect told the victim that his business venture was reaping profits, but he required her help to release some of his goods that had been seized by the Customs Department at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

“Already infatuated with the man by then, and based on trust, the victim made online and cash deposit transactions totalling RM210,020 into 11 bank accounts between July 2018 and June this year, all of which were her savings.

He said if not for the intervention of family members, who found out she was applying for a personal loan, purportedly to deposit more money for her online lover, the victim would have lost more.

The victim, realising by now that she had been hoodwinked, lodged a police report on Thursday, and the case is being investigated for cheating, he said.

Annuar Amri advised the public not to fall for such love scams, and not to easily be duped into parting with their money for individuals they befriended on social media.

In Kepala Batas, a 62-yearold retiree lost RM30,000 to a cheating syndicate known as the Macau Scam on Thursday, after he was duped into believing he had to settle a bank loan and that he was allegedly involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.

Seberang Perai Utara district police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor yesterday said the victim had received a phone call from a man who claimed to be a bank officer, informing the retiree that he had an outstanding loan and was involved in trafficking 16 kilos of drugs, as well as money laundering.

The police chief said the shocked retiree agreed to transfer money to a bank account, the details of which were provided by the scammer who also instructed the senior citizen not to divulge the matter to anyone, failing which he would be arrested by the police.

The retiree proceeded to transfer RM30,000 to the account on the same day, after which he informed his family, only to be told that he had fallen prey to a scam.

He lodged a police report on Friday and investigations are underway in connection with the offence of cheating and dishonesty under the Penal Code. - Bernama