JOHOR BARU: A 34-year-old technician who was seeking for a S$10,000 (RM34,361) loan to help with a relative's medical bill ended up forking out S$7,300 (RM25,070) to an illegal moneylender as well as having his house splashed with red paint.
Identified only as Raymond, the victim – who works in Singapore – said he was searching for a moneylender on Facebook and came across a post about a loan consultant, so he clicked on it to find out more.
He was then asked to provide his particulars, which he did, and an agent got in touch with him via WhatsApp shortly after that.
“The man introduced himself as Martin and said he was an unlicensed moneylender. I decided not to go ahead with the loan.
“He immediately threatened to misuse my personal information if I did not take out the loan. He suggested that I borrow a low amount of S$450 (RM1,546) and transferred the money to me that same night.
“He told me to pay him back S$800 (RM2,748) including interest the next day and the matter would be settled.
"I felt like I had no choice but to do as he said,” Raymond told a press conference organised by Stulang assemblyman Andrew Chen here on Tuesday (July 18).
Raymond said he thought the worst was over after making the transfer but to his dismay, Martin contacted him the next day and told him that he had transferred the wrong amount.
“He claimed that my actions caused issues with his bank account and told me to make further transfers totalling S$800 to two different bank accounts.
"Again, I complied (so he would not act) on his threats to set my house on fire.
“I became very stressed when he asked for S$5,700 (RM19,566) the next day. I even had to borrow S$4,000 (RM13,735) from my friends to pay him.
“I felt something was amiss when Martin asked me to let him use my Singapore bank account or pay him S$15,000 (RM51,503) to stop contacting me any more,” he said, adding that the police advised him to ignore the man when he lodged a police report in Toa Payoh, Singapore.
Raymond said Martin continued to harass him using different telephone numbers and splashed red paint on his friend's house in Sri Stulang on Friday (July 14) as the address was on his MyKad, which he provided to the loan shark.
Raymond, who has worked in Singapore for 10 years, said his own house in Permas Jaya was also splashed with red paint on Monday (July 17) night.
He is worried as Martin also threatened to splash red paint on and set fire to his relative’s house in Taman Scientex, Pasir Gudang soon.
He added that he has lodged four police reports in Johor and hopes the syndicate would stop harassing and threatening him.
A police official, when contacted, confirmed receiving the reports.
Raymond urged the public to learn from him and avoid clicking on online advertisements offering loans or investment opportunities to avoid falling victim to such scams.
