The suspect with username ‘Tan Jenny Mon’ allegedly told the victim he was sending a gift from Manchester, England as a symbol of their relationship after a month’s courtship. – AFP file photo
KUCHING (Aug 22): A woman in her 40’s was scammed a total of RM60,140 by a man she had met on Facebook in July this year.
The suspect with username ‘Tan Jenny Mon’ allegedly told the victim he was sending a gift from Manchester, England as a symbol of their relationship after a month’s courtship.
“The suspect then claimed that he was sending the gift via courier service,” said Padawan district police deputy chief DSP Lim Jaw Shyong in a statement yesterday.
Early this month, the victim received a phone call allegedly from a courier company asking her to pay RM3,500 as taxes for the parcel.
The victim then transferred the amount to a bank account given by the caller.
The caller then asked the victim to transfer another RM11,150 after claiming that the contents of the parcel was a lot of money.
“The victim complied and made another transfer to a different bank account given,” Lim stated.
Three days later, the victim was ordered to transfer another RM45,490 to a bank account as the caller claimed the money which were previously transferred was insufficient for the parcel to be cleared by the customs department.
The victim then made the transfer before realising she has been scammed.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
“I would like to advise the public not to be easily swayed by any individuals they meet online and become victims of love scams,” added Lim who advised against writing posts on social media accounts about being lonely, looking for a life partner or financial difficulties.
Such posts, he said, would most likely attract the attention of online scammers.
Those with information on any online scams may call the Commercial Crime Investigations Department’s scam response centre at 03-2610 1559 or 03-2610 1599.
The department can also be reached at infoline via SMS or Whatsapp at 013-2111222.