JOHOR BARU: A single mother found it hard to accept that she had been conned by a foreigner in a ‘Love Scam’ syndicate even after she lost RM380,000 to save the man she had come to regard as her ‘husband’.
The victim who wanted to be known only as Miss Lee, 50, said she had known her ‘husband’ since October last year when they met on Facebook, but had never met him personally.
“He promised to send gifts like rings, bangles, lingerie, diamonds, watches and two Iphones amounting to about RM800 million.
“On Nov 6 last year, a customs agent contacted me and told me that my husband and his goods had been detained and I had to pay a sum of money to get them released.
“From that day until Dec 4 (last Wednesday), I deposited the money into several accounts amounting to RM380,000. I came up with the money by selling my house in Kota Masai, Pasir Gudang, and I also used my savings,” she said in a press conference held at the Stulang state assemblyman service centre, here today.
Miss Lee said she did not think the man was a scammer because they were on video call when her ‘husband’ was detained, and she saw him losing weight, as he was supposedly not given food by the agent, and his hair had grown longer.
“I hope they (the agents) will give me back my husband and the goods,” Lee, who now lives with her sister in Taman Scientex here, said.
Meanwhile, Stulang state assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng said he lodged a police report at the Seri Alam Police Station after the victim met him to ask for help.
“I was told that the police has classified this case as a ‘love scam’ and I hope the public will be more careful in such cases,” he added. - Bernama
