PETALING JAYA: Malaysian mixed doubles shuttler Lai Pei Jing suffered a huge blow when she lost almost all her life savings through a scam.
In a heartfelt social media post, the 31-year-old independent player shared the unfortunate incident.
"First of all, to my relatives and friends who see this post, whether you are curious or concerned, please give my family some private space to deal with our emotions. Please give us time to process everything, especially my mom. Thank you," said Pei Jing.
"Yes, I was scammed out of almost all my life savings by a fraud group. Honestly, this has been an extremely heavy blow to me.
"My hard-earned savings from decades of hard work. I reflect on it almost every second whenever my mind is idle.
"Naturally, I replay the entire scam and fall into a state of blaming myself for my foolishness and kindness.
"It takes great courage to speak out about being scammed because who wants to tell others I was foolishly deceived, right?
"These past few days, I have been managing my emotions and dealing with the police.
"Once I've adjusted, I'll share more about it. I hope to prevent more victims and also force myself to accept the fact that I was scammed.
"So, this moment, I must grit my teeth and get through this because life still has to go on.
"The world won't stop turning just because of me. It seems like being strong is my only option.
"I need some time to settle and process everything. Afterward, I'll consider how to share the details of the scam with everyone.
"I hope my sharing can help others be more vigilant and prevent more victims from being deceived," added Pei Jing.