Kota Kinabalu: A housewife here claimed to have suffered losses amounting to more than half million ringgit in a love scam after meeting a man through social media.
The 47-year-old woman met the man via Facebook in early July and continued the “friendship” through the WhatsApp application.
They had never met and the suspect had asked the victim for money to enable him to come to Malaysia to manage a property claim from his late father.
The man promised to return the money he borrowed from the victim twice.
As a result of trusting him, the victim transferred a total of RM508,500 to the man in stages via an account belonging to a woman.
The victim became suspicious when the suspect did not return the borrowed money but still asked for more.
Realising she had been cheated, the woman lodged a police report on Friday.
Kota Kinabalu Police Chief ACP Mohd Zaidi Abdullah confirmed the case, saying it is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He advised the public to be wary of scammers, saying such cases have been widely publicised by the police and other parties as well as reports in the mainstream media.
