SIBU: A soldier ended up RM60,000 poorer after falling victim to a love scam.
Sibu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said the 28-year-old is among the latest victims of romance fraud syndicates, which are on the rise in Sarawak.
He said the scam began when the victim became acquainted with a woman known as 'Aishah' on Facebook in Nov 2016.
"Since then, their relationship blossomed through WhatsApp. She sent gorgeous pictures of herself, and he was really charmed," Stanley said.
The victim was then asked to make a payment to a bank account as “dowry” for their marriage.
"Without much thought, he agreed and transferred RM30,000 into the account belonging to someone in Dec 2016.
"In June 2017, he made several other online money transfers to the same account totalling RM30,000 as additional payments for the dowry," he said in a statement here, today.
Stanley said the victim initially did not suspect anything amiss, but realised that he had been duped when the suspect could no longer be contacted after the payments totalling RM60,000 had been made.
In a separate case in Bintulu, a mechanic lost RM32,350 to a loan scam.
The victim needed a RM40,000 loan and was contacted by a man via Whatsapp who said he could help.
"The man claimed he was the financial executive of a company that offers loans.
"He said the loan could be approved on condition that the victim make some payments in advance," Stanley added.
The victim subsequently paid a total of RM32,350 to six different bank accounts via 11 transactions.
"Both these cases are being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
"It is a crime punishable with a maximum jail term of 10 years, with whipping and a fine, upon conviction," Stanley said.