Love scam: 28-year-old woman clears RM418k from mother's bank account for 'lover'

KUANTAN (Bernama): A 28-year-old woman here withdrew RM418,400 from her mother's bank account all because of her "lover" whom she had met via a social media application.

Revealing the case, Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the 28-year-old woman claimed that she got to know the man, purportedly a Malay businessman living in France, via an application on Dec 22.

"The victim claimed to have exchanged phone numbers as well as given her bank account number to the man because he intended to send gifts, including cash, to symbolise his love for her on Dec 26,2020, which he followed up with a photograph of a cheque via a messaging application.

"The woman then received an email claiming that she would receive RM89,700 through a foreign remittance transaction, but first had to pay RM2,000 before the money could be credited to her account," he told reporters about the case here Thursday (March 4).

Supt Wazir said the woman, who is unemployed, further claimed to have often received messages from the man asking her to make more payments for various reasons related to the cash gift, with the last sent on Feb 19.

All in all, he said, the victim claimed that she had made 44 money transfer transactions to nine different accounts given by the suspect, with the total amounting to RM418,400.

He did not reveal how she was able to access her mother's account and only said that she was a teacher while her father was the principal of a secondary school.

Finally realising that she had been duped, Supt Wazir said she lodged a report Wednesday (March 3) at the Jerantut District Police Headquarters, about 188km from here

He added that the case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years and whipping and a fine, if convicted. - Bernama