Facebook scam leaves Form 5 girl and dad RM5,100 poorer

KOTA KINABALU: A schoolgirl was cheated of RM5,100 after a Facebook friend told her that she had sent her a cash gift of US$20,000 (RM89,000) which required a Customs clearance fee.

The Form Five student had befriended one Amanda Smith, purportedly an American based in Chicago, on Facebook last month.

Both communicated daily on Facebook and Viber for about two weeks. Smith then told the teenager that she had sent a parcel containing the cash on Jan 11.

On that same day, the girl received a call from a woman claiming to be from a courier company, telling her that the parcel with the cash had been held back by the Customs at KLIA 2.

She was told that she had to pay RM5,100 for the parcel to be cleared by Customs.

The girl asked her father for the money and help to bank the amount to an account under the name of Carolin Frank.

However, the woman later told her that another RM8,300 was needed to allow senior officers to release the parcel.

This triggered suspicion and a police report was made on Saturday.

Sandakan police chief Asst Comm Mohd Azhar Hamin said the Form Five girl was accompanied by her father to lodge the police report.

Police were investigating the owner of the bank account, he said.