KOTA KINABALU: A 19-year-old university student here parted with almost RM50,000 after falling victim to a love scam.
The woman, studying at a local university here, befriended a “man” over Telegram on Feb 5.
At the beginning, everything seemed harmless with innocent text messages before they grew closer.
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As the so-called relationship blossomed, their communication shifted to WhatsApp where the suspect asked the student to send him some money so he could buy hero "skins" (downloads that change the appearance of a character) in an online game.
The woman, believed to have been blinded by affection for her new flame, agreed to transfer money in stages to five bank accounts provided by the suspect.
She only felt something was amiss when the person declined to repay the loan but asked for more instead.
The student subsequently lodged a police report on Wednesday (Feb 15).
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Kota Kinabalu OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Zaidi Abdullah confirmed the report, saying investigations have been launched under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
He advised the public to watch out for such scams or any other ruse used by scammers to fleece people of money.
He added that authorities, including the police, have issued warnings to the public numerous times.
“Don’t trust someone so easily or fall for sweet talk, especially from those you know only through social media," said ACP Mohd Zaidi.
