SIBU: A retired daycare nurse was cheated of RM67,650 in a love scam.
Sibu OCPD Asst Comm Zulkifli Suhaili said the 56-year-old woman's ordeal started in mid-2022 when she befriended a man by the name of James Huong through Facebook.
"Around the middle of 2020, the victim met the suspect through Facebook.
"The suspect claimed he was from the United States and worked as an architect and has a young child.
"The suspect also said he would come to Sibu to meet and marry her," he said.
On Oct 27, the victim was asked to help pay the school fees of the suspect's child in the United States as he claimed he was still working offshore.
"Out of love, the victim agreed to give RM7,000 to the suspect. The suspect had also promised to pay her back," said ACP Zulkifli.
In May this year, the victim was promised a gift in the form of US dollar cash that would be transferred to her account and it made her feel excited.
"However when she checked, she found that there was no money deposited into her as promised.
"The suspect then reasoned that there was a problem with the account and she needed to get Bank Negara's permission to accept the US dollar deposited into her account," he continued.
She was asked to make a payment to enable the money to be transferred to her account.
The victim complied and made payments in stages into seven local bank accounts from May 11 to Aug 4.
She realised that she had been cheated by the suspect after being told by her son that she had been scammed.
