Malaysian actor Shaun Chen has filed a police report after being repeatedly harassed by a woman he does not know and who has accused him of scamming her.
The 47-year-old Mediacorp artiste reposted his wife Celine Chin’s Instagram Story on March 9, revealing the harassment he was experiencing through private messages from a female netizen.
The post included screenshots of three chat logs, in which the woman sent lengthy, abusive messages, even threatening and cursing his family.
Chen and his wife have two daughters aged eight and 10, and they live in Johor Bahru.
The woman has been sending Chen numerous messages via Facebook since Feb 17, mostly containing “unhinged” accusations and questions.
The actor said in an interview with Chinese-language Shin Min Daily News on March 11 that he initially ignored her and blocked her.
However, the woman continued to send him messages via voice messaging, and later even began harassing his wife, sending more emotionally charged messages.
The screenshots show that the woman not only accused Chen of swindling money, but also hurled extreme insults which implicated his mother and daughters, and even threatened the safety of his family members.
He said he lodged an online police report on March 10, but currently has no plans to take legal action.
“It doesn’t matter when I occasionally encounter netizens who criticise or scold me,” he told Shin Min. “But dragging my family into it and cursing them is unacceptable.”
Chen said he and his wife have not received any further messages from the woman after the incident was made public.
Regarding the cause of the incident, the entertainer suspects the woman might have been a victim of an online scam – the scammer might have impersonated him by using his photo or identity, leading her to mistakenly believe he was involved in the scam and subsequently direct her anger at him.
Chen said he did not engage directly with the woman to probe the reason behind her outburst.
“She may think I want to be in contact with her if I inquire further, making the situation worse,” he said. “So, I think it’s better to avoid any communication.”
Chen also urged the woman to file a police report if she has been scammed online and let the authorities handle the matter.
The actor said he will exercise more caution when he attends public events in the future, as he is concerned the woman may show up to harass him. He has also reminded his wife and daughters to stay vigilant.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “But we’ll still be extra cautious.” - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
