ALOR SETAR: A woman has been left penniless after being deceived by a love scam syndicate that robbed her of almost RM1mil.
Kedah Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Loi Yew Lik said the 53-year-old victim encountered a man claiming to be from Yemen through Facebook on Jan 26 last year, and continued to communicate with him via WhatsApp.
He said that the suspect then gave the victim two rings, purportedly as a promise of marriage.
"On Feb 5, 2024, the suspect told the complainant that he had been hospitalised and needed to borrow money for his treatment, promising to repay her when he came to Malaysia to marry her.
"The then complainant transferred RM925,850 in stages through 166 transactions into 15 separate bank accounts from Feb 5, 2024, to March 25, 2024," said Supt Loi in a statement on Tuesday (May 13).
He said the complainant realised she had been scammed when she discovered that the man had not arrived in Malaysia and that the suspect had blocked her on Facebook.
He said the victim filed a police report about the incident on 12 May at 10.49am at the Kuala Muda district police headquarters in Sungai Petani.
Supt Loi advised the public to check with the police before making any questionable money transfers.
He also stated that the public can check through the Semak Mule application, the JSJK PDRM Facebook page, or by contacting the National Scam Response Centre at 997. – Bernama
