The scam began in October 2017, with the fraudster posing as a businessman from Singapore.
Over 7 years, the woman transferred RM 2.2 million (Rs 4.2 crore) without meeting the scammer in person.
Authorities are investigating the case, which is one of the longest and most widespread dating scams in Malaysia.
A 67-year-old Malaysian woman fell victim to one of the most widespread and long-running online dating scam. The woman lost more than RM 2.2 million (approximately Rs 4.2 crore) over the course of seven years. It all started in October 2017, when a man posing as an American businessman living in Singapore initiated the relationship. Following that, within 7 years, the woman made over 300 bank transfers to the scammer in an attempt to assist him during the crisis.
First met on Facebook, the scammer pretended to be a businessman working for the medical equipment industry. He later claimed that he intended to move to Malaysia but would be unable to afford the travel expenses. The woman quickly made the first bank transfer of RM 5,000. Following this, the scammer consistently made excuses for the money, such as a personal or business crisis. After a while, the requests became too frequent, and the victim eventually paid RM 2.2 million (roughly Rs 4.2 crore). Interestingly, the woman never met the man in person and they used to talk on voice calls while the scammer used to avoid the video calls and in-person meetings.
READ: Credit card scam: How a gang used fake calls to steal from over 50 users
The woman realised she was being duped when she shared her experience with a friend and discovered the truth. The authorities are now looking into the matter. This case is one of the most widespread scams in nearly a decade, as per the report citing officials in Malaysia. Here is how to avoid it:
Tips to Avoid Dating Scams
To help protect yourself from similar scams, experts recommend the following tips:
1. Before making new friends, the users are advised to run a reverse image search to check if the person’s image is real or taken from the internet.
2. Before trusting somebody, the users are advised to take some time and meet them in-person irrespective of how legitimate you find them.
3. Never share money if you have not met the other person.
4. Stay extra cautious if somebody creates a rush while asking money due to emergencies.
5. Do not quickly move to the private messages platform like WhatsApp too soon.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. Previously, he worked as a Senior Sub-Editor with Jagran English from 2022, and has been a journalist since 2020, with experience at Times Internet. Ashish specializes in Technology. In his free time, you can find him exploring new gadgets, gaming, and discovering new places. View Full Profile
