KUALA LUMPUR: A man answered an online advertisement for “childbearing”, thinking that he would get to have sex with women and become a millionaire in the process.
In his first deal, he was promised an upfront payment of RM300,000 within 48 hours and another RM700,000 if a client successfully conceives.
Of course, it was too good to be true.
The 49-year-old victim, who only wanted to be known as Lee, ended up losing tens of thousands of ringgit. He had fallen victim to a “sperm lending” scam.
The man said he saw the online advertisement with a picture of an attractive woman. Intrigued and in need of money, Lee responded.
A woman, who claimed to be a Singaporean named Chen, then added him on WhatsApp and enticed him by claiming the services would involve sex.
“Chen sent a purported picture of herself and shared voice messages with Lee.
“We believe the picture was likely taken from a modelling agency and that the woman in the picture could also be a victim,” said MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who exposed the scam in a press conference here yesterday.
Lee’s losses began when the woman asked him to pay RM1,000 before she could direct him to a “lawyer”.
After he paid up, the purported lawyer sent Lee a contract via WhatsApp, which offered him the RM1mil if he successfully made the woman conceive. The agreement also bore the name of a Malaysian law firm.
The lawyer then told Lee to pay RM24,000 for “processing fees” to a local bank account before the RM300,000 could be banked into his account.
Lee deposited the money and only realised something amiss when the lawyer demanded a further RM30,000.
Realising he had been scammed, Lee stopped all communications and consulted Chong for advice.
Chong then contacted the law firm involved, which confirmed that Chen was not their client and that their name had been misused by scammers.
“We believe the scammers are a local syndicate because they used the name of a local legal firm.
“They are likely working with foreign syndicates as the woman who sent the voice messages did not have a local accent and sounded robotic.
“They also took advantage of Lee’s poor literacy skills as he didn’t notice the poor language in the agreement,” Chong said.
