MIRI: An oil rig worker suffered RM12,650 in losses after being deceived by a foreign woman whom he befriended on Facebook since 2016.
Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief, Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said the 51-year-old victim had claimed that a woman by the name of Christal Addison, had expressed her desire to meet the victim in Miri in December 2018.
“On Dec 30, 2018 the victim received a call via 011-16146381 from Hamisah Musthafa claiming that Addison was detained at KLIA1 for carrying a lot of cash,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Mustafa said the victim was required to pay a compound of RM5,150 with the money being deposited into Hamisah’s account which the victim paid into her Maybank account on Jan 16, 2019.
“The victim made another payment of RM5,000 on Jan 18, after receiving a call from Hamisah who claimed it was late payment for a compound,
“The victim once again paid RM2,500 on Jan 19 into her account and this time, it was on the excuse that Addison’s visa had expired,” he said.
In another case, Mustafa said a 21-year-old female cashier at a supermarket in Sri Aman, was a victim of a loan scheme that did not exist, after applying for a RM30,000 loan via Facebook last month.
“The victim was contacted by a man named Steven and a woman named Lina, who asked the victim to pay RM3,529 as loan processing fee,” he said, adding that she had received the calls from mobile phone numbers 0182741882 and 0182800648.
He said the victim made the first payment of RM1,849 on Jan 4, 2019 and the second payment of RM1,689 on Jan 29.
“The victim realised that she had been duped when she did not get the loan. Her phone calls to both the individuals were also not answered,” he added. — Bernama