Nation

Mother of missing beautician has FB, Insta accounts hacked several times recently

JOHOR BARU: The story of missing beautician Angie Chong Sum Yee has taken a bit of a twist, with her mother claiming that her Facebook account was hacked thrice recently.

Chee Choy Won, 50, claimed that her personal FB account, mainly used to disseminate information on the missing 22-year-old, had its status changed to "Angie Chong is found, she is safe and sound".

After Chee regained ownership of her account, the hackers targeted her Instagram account and deactivated it.

The mother of two is adamant her daughter, who has been missing for 11 days, has fallen victim to a heartless scammer.

She is determined to uncover the truth and bring her daughter home safely, immediately.

Chee, who stays in Johor Baru with Chong's elder brother, said although her daughter stayed in Puchong in Selangor, they had a very close relationship and messaged each other on a daily basis.

Chong left Malaysia via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Chiang Mai, Thailand, on May 29 without informing her family members.

Chee's attempts to contact her daughter on May 30 proved futile.

However, two days later (May 31) Chong, who works as a beautician, sent two pictures of her via WhatsApp to her mother, informing her of her trip.

When questioned about her whereabouts, Chong said she was in Chiang Mai for a short-term work opportunity with a lucrative remuneration.

She promised her mother that she would be back on June 7, and shared a screenshot of her return ticket to KLIA.

However, Chong has since been out of communication and her mother lodged a missing person report, prompting Malaysian and Thai authorities to conduct investigations.

The Thai officials believe she has left for Myanmar via a land route.

Liow Yon Shen, the Perling assemblyman's chief of staff, said DAP was rendering help to Chee after being informed that she was staying in Johor Baru.

"Our team took her to Thailand and met the Thai officials, including the case investigation officer. We were showed a full report and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Chong, including her arrival, of her boarding a car driven by an unidentified man, and also her movement in several hotels," he said, adding that their three-day visit began on Tuesday and they had returned yesterday.

The last footage of Chong was on June 1, at the Mae Sai border checkpoint in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province. This checkpoint connects Thailand with the Myanmar border town of Tachileik.

Although Chong had recently posted a video of her using a different Facebook account named "Moe Aye", claiming that she was well, her mother is still unconvinced.

Chee believes the video was directed by a third party.

In the FB footage, Chong urged her mother to withdraw her missing person report against the man who had picked her up from the airport in a private car,

"I know my daughter very well, she definitely looked under duress," said Chee.

She said her daughter called her on Saturday and did not sound like her usual self, adding that she spoke in a hurry and kept on repeating herself, mainly saying that she was well and the report should be withdrawn immediately.

When Chee said she would not withdraw the report until Chong returned, Chong threated that her return would not be possible unless the report was withdrawn, before abruptly cutting the line.

Chee has not been able to call nor send messages to her daughter since then.

The distraught mother was in tears when speaking to reporters at the DAP Johor headquarters here in Taman Tropika, in Kulai, and begged for mercy from her daughter's alleged captors and for her daughter's safe return.

Chee believes her daughter was deceived by a syndicate based in the Tachiliek province in Myanmar, to work in an illegal call centre.

It was reported about 3,000 Malaysians are allegedly working for an illegal call centre in Myanmar after apparently being duped by offers of lucrative salaries and career opportunities.

They were forced to work at the centre under duress and amid inhuman living conditions, their passports withheld by syndicate members.

Some victims claimed that they were starved and abused when they did not follow instructions.

However, some were allowed to return home, but only after their family paid handsome ransoms for their release.

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories