Teacher, 27, loses RM42,000 to love scam online

MELAKA: A 27-year-old teacher at a primary school here fell victim to a love scam after being wooed by an alleged Caucasian man online.

Melaka Commercial Crime chief Supt E. Sundra Rajan said the victim had befriended the con artist on Facebook on March 3.

"In less than a month, the victim received a message from the scammer that he was sending her gifts including branded shoes, a laptop, a gold chain and RM12,631 to show how much he loved the victim.

"The case was a typical love scam where the scammer claimed that the parcel was stuck at Customs and the victim needed to pay a certain amount in order for the authorities to release the items," he said on Tuesday (April 5).

Supt Sundra said the victim told his investigating officer that she trusted the scammer after he promised to marry her.

He said the victim had deposited RM42,000 into a bank account given by the scammer.

The amount, he said, was deposited in three transactions between Mar 30 to April 1.

Supt Sundra said the victim realised it was a scam when she was asked to pay an additional RM5,000 by the scammer on April 2 as the final payment before she could receive her gift.

"The victim also realised she was conned after she found out the details of the courier service provided by the scammer were fake," he said.

Supt Sundra said the victim lodged a police report at Melaka Tengah police station on Monday (April 4) and police were investigating under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.