Civil servant in Miri cheated of RM200,000 in love scam

SIBU: A woman civil servant in Miri has lost more than RM200,000 in a love scam, says police.

Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Maria Rasid said in a statement on Wednesday (March 24) that the 33-year-old victim got acquainted with a man calling himself "Mason Harrison Davis" on a dating app in June.

The suspect claimed to be a doctor in a British hospital.

"Subsequently, the suspect made a marriage proposal to the victim and said he would move to Malaysia. He promised to send her GBP155,000 (RM877,350) through a 'Syarikat Transfast'," Supt Maria said.

From that day, the victim was in contact with the suspect for an hour every day for about one month, she added.

Supt Maria said that on July 7, the victim was contacted by a woman who identified herself as an agent from "Transfast".

The agent asked the victim to make a payment of RM200,000 for the release of the money sent by the suspect, Supt Maria added.

"The victim made 20 money transfers totalling RM203,642 to 11 bank accounts in the name of an unknown individual between July 7,2020 and March 17 this year for 'tax relief' and also as a fee for the money to be relesed," she said.

According to Supt Maria, the victim realised she had been cheated when the suspect asked her to make additional payments.

In separate cases, Supt Maria said, two others - one in Simunjan and the other Kuching - fell victims to a parcel scam.

Supt Maria said the Simunjan case involved another 33-year-old woman civil servant, who was cheated of RM3,550 by a social media friend on Feb 26.

"The case in Kuching involved a 27-year-old student at a private institution of higher learning who lost RM3,500 after she was also cheated by a social media acquaintance on March 5," she said.