A retired daycare nurse in Sibu has become the victim of a love scam, losing RM67,650 in the process. The Sibu District Police Chief (OCPD), Asst Comm Zulkifli Suhaili, stated that the 56-year-old woman’s ordeal began in mid-2022 when she befriended a man named James Huong on Facebook.
“Around the middle of 2020, the victim met the suspect through Facebook. The suspect claimed he was from the United States, worked as an architect, and had a young child. He also mentioned that he would come to Sibu to meet and marry her,” he explained.
On October 27, the victim was requested to assist in paying the school fees for the suspect’s child in the United States, as he alleged to still be working offshore. “Out of love, the victim agreed to give RM7,000 to the suspect, who had promised to reimburse her,” added ACP Zulkifli.
In May of this year, the victim was promised a gift in the form of US dollars that would be transferred to her bank account. This brought her immense excitement. However, upon checking her account, she discovered that no money had been deposited, as promised. “The suspect then claimed that there was an issue with the account and that she needed Bank Negara’s permission to receive the deposited US dollars,” ACP Zulkifli continued.
She was subsequently asked to make a payment to facilitate the transfer of the funds. The victim complied, making multiple payments to seven local bank accounts between May 11 and August 4. It was only after her son informed her that she had been scammed that she realized she had been deceived by the suspect.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
