KOTA KINABALU: A woman was cheated of RM2.5mil in a love scam involving a man claiming to be a Korean, whom she had befriended through social media.
The woman gave the suspect the money via 41 bank transfers to 24 bank accounts over two months from May 26, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun.
He said the 46-year-old woman, who works as an assistant manager at a private company here, only realised she had been cheated after failing to contact the man.
She lodged a police report on Wednesday.
Comm Jauteh said the victim met the suspect through Instagram and he had introduced himself as “Ji Won from Korea”.
“Their relationship became closer and they started communicating more often through WhatsApp,” he told a press conference in Penampang near here yesterday.
The suspect told the victim that he was running an oil and gas business in Italy, but his bank account had some problems.
The suspect asked the woman for financial assistance to help purchase goods for the company.
“Believing the suspect, the victim made payments 41 times into 24 different accounts amounting to more than RM2.5mil between May 26 and July 4 on the instructions of the suspect,” said Comm Jauteh.
She became suspicious because the suspect continued to ask for more money.
“The victim has since lost contact with the suspect,” he said.
The case is being investigated for cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
The public is advised to be vigilant against such scams and to check the police website http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/ or download the CCID mule check application before making transactions.
