JOHOR BARU: For the past two years, a 28-year-old woman was extorted of more than S$20,000 (RM68,760), forced to become a loan shark's runner and even had her house set on fire twice - all because she befriended a man online.
Identified only as Wong, the clerk who works in Singapore became friends with a man via Facebook in June 2021 and immediately hit it off.
“The man introduced himself as a Chinese national working in the finance industry. After our conversation got going, he suggested that I join him in an online investment scheme,” said Wong.
She added that the man even gave me his login and password to access his account on a mobile app, which was actually an online gambling platform.
“Although he said he received attractive returns from the app, I was hesitant at first. However, after much convincing, I decided to give it a go by staking small amounts of money like S$5 (RM17) and S$10 (RM34) which I was able to get back,” said Wong.
“I then placed S$750 (RM2,578) into my account and this was where things took another bad turn,” she added at a press conference called by the Johor MCA public complaints and services bureau here on Wednesday (Sept 20).
Wong said the man told her that she could not get her money back unless she put in a minimum of S$10,000 (RM34,374) to “unlock” a new level in the app.
When she said she could not afford the amount, the man convinced her to take up a loan.
She searched for a money lender online and found one that she thought was a legitimate company and got in touch with them for a loan.
Wong also submitted her personal particulars like her work permit, home address and employer information as part of her loan application but later found out that the money lender turned out to be an Ah Long.
“When I told the Ah Long that I did not want to go ahead with the application, he told me to pay a S$250 (RM859) deferment fee or risk having my family home in Perak burnt down,” she said.
“After paying him the amount, he continued to extort me. I had to borrow money from my friends and relatives to pay him off,” she said, adding that the amount she paid the Ah Long amounted to about S$10,000.
Feeling lost after being deep in debt, Wong said she found herself getting a loan from another group of Ah Long.
This time, she wanted to borrow S$1,000 (RM3,438) but only received S$650 (RM2,234) from the loan shark.
“After paying off the amount in full, I thought I could live my life in peace but in April last year, the Ah Long contacted me again through WhatsApp to say that I still owed him money,” she said.
When Wong refused to entertain his request, she claimed that the Ah Long sent someone to set fire to her relative’s house in Perak.
“I told him that I cannot afford to pay him any more money and he told me to work for him as a runner in Singapore to pay off my debt. I had no choice but to follow his instructions out of fear for my family’s safety,” she said.
“The Ah Long would send me addresses to secluded locations such as dark corners of a parking lot to collect money from a stranger before passing it to another stranger,” added Wong.
She said the highest amount she collected was S$6,000 (RM20,635) and added that each of these experiences was stressful and scary for her.
“After about five such errands, I told him I wanted to stop as I have paid him more than $S9,000 (RM30,949) in total,” Wong said, adding that she had also lodged a police report in Singapore.
Wong then added that she finally had enough after the Ah Long harassed her once again on Tuesday (Sept 19) by setting fire to her parents’ house (in Perak) and she decided to contact Johor MCA public complaints bureau committee member Joan Ng Geok Yin for help.
Ng advised the public to refrain from falling for online gambling schemes that were marketed as investment schemes.
“Never give money to such schemes, as well as Ah Long syndicates, as they are endless pits where they will keep harassing the victims for money. I will also get in touch with the police to help Wong follow up on her case,” she added.
