Due to the sweet words of a stranger, a cosmetics entrepreneur lost over RM240,000 after being duped into a non-existent camping equipment business.
According to a report by Kosmo, the victim, a 51-year-old woman identified as Chan, claimed to have met the man through an outdoors and camping social media group before becoming close to the man.
“In just 3 days, he called me ‘sayang’, ‘baby’ and ‘dear’“
“As a single mother who raised a son for 18 years, I have never received so much attention,” she said at a press conference held by the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO).
After throwing sweet words at the victim, the man claimed to need capital to run a camping equipment rental business and persuaded her to invest.
“I handed over the money in stages, online and in cash, until the amount reached RM240,600. But, after more than a year, I didn’t received a single cent.”
That’s when she started looking into the ‘camping equipment business’.
She explained that she started checking the background of the ‘business’ and found that the man had never registered the ‘business’ legally, and he also sent her receipts that were suspected to be fake.
“I demanded my money back, but he refused to negotiate and started behaving aggressively. Now, he has blocked all communications,” she added.
She’s not the only one
The victim discovered that the man has apparently deceived many other women, and she is still actively looking for more victims.
This image is for illustration purposes only.
“So far, we have identified more than 10 female victims. His fraud is not only about love and money, but also threats. He is still at large, and we are worried that he will find new victims,” she said.
Her friend, 58-year-old Joe Teoh, also found the situation suspicious and helped to reach out to the man.
“I tried to contact the man, and he responded with threats. He said he knew where I lived and asked me not to interfere,” Teoh shared, adding that he hopes other women, who are active in outdoor activities, will be careful and not fall victim to the man.
MHO Secretary-General Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim chimed in to condemn the delay in the investigations into this case, adding that it could cause injustice to the victim.
“We appeal to the Head of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) of the Timur Laut IPD in Penang, to investigate this case thoroughly and immediately so that there are no more victims,” he said.
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