By Wendy John
SIBU, Dec 24: A teacher in Kanowit was duped of RM102,900 in a love scam by a man she met through social media.
According to Sibu district police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit the 39-year-old victim only lodged a police report two months later on Dec 23 after she got to know the man.
On August 31, the victim befriended a man who identified himself as Othman Celestine, a project manager from the United Kingdom.
“After one month of getting to know each other on Facebook, the man made a marriage proposal to the victim. He had also told her that his late father has left a will of RM15.5 million to him in Terengganu,” Stanley disclosed.
Following that the man sought for financial assistance from the victim to pay for the legal and withdrawal fees in order to claim the money. He also promised to pay her back once he managed to claim all the money from the will.
On Oct 3, the victim transferred RM20,000 to a bank account with details provided by the man. After that the man also requested her to open an account under her name with another bank and to send him the ATM card via an address in Petaling Jaya. She did as requested.
On Nov 14, the victim made a total of six transfers to the account amounting to a total of RM82,900.
Stanley said the victim finally realised that she had been cheated after the man asked for more money by requesting her to re-mortgage her house.
The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. — DayakDaily
