Smashed by scam: Lai (foreground) was worried about her future when she became caught up in the Dobevil scam.
PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles shuttler Lai Pei Jing has warned about the dangers posed by the job scam software known as Dobevil after losing RM400,000 of her life savings.
She said the fact that a friend was the one who led her into it made it an even more painful experience.
The professional shuttler revealed more details of the scheme that deceived her into investing her money in an online business.
Lai, 31, said she had been concerned over her career with her mixed doubles partner Tan Kian Meng on the international stage as they had not been getting good results at the time.
She said the online business venture came as an attractive proposition.
“Normally, I don’t pay attention to such things, but I was frustrated with my career, which led to anxiety about my future after retirement,” she posted on social media on Friday.
“After repeated recommendations by a friend, I took this wrong decision, which led to me losing my savings.
“This software (Dobevil) is similar to ecommerce, operating as if you are running your own online store.
“It involved order taking, procurement, manufacturing, shipping, and buyer signing while I earn profits in between,” said Lai, who added that by the time she realised the entire thing was a scam, it was too late.
“I didn’t know the whole software was a scam. I genuinely believed in it.
“All the order amounts, customer service, and buyers were actually ‘controlled’ by them.
“In fact, throughout the whole process, I had my doubts, but when I foolishly asked that particular friend instead of my family members, she convinced me to continue.
“Finally, I knew I was being scammed and summoned the courage to tell my family,” she said.
Lai said she regretted following her friend’s advice to invest and warned others not to fall into the same trap.
“It was really painful to be deceived and I do not want others to fall victim and go through the same heartache I went through.
“I’ve accepted what happened to me and I’m moving forward. It will take some time to heal. It’s a life lesson for sure.”
On the badminton court, Lai did not waste any time dwelling on her misfortune as she showed great focus and resolve to pull herself up and reach back-to-back semi-finals with Tan in the Indonesian and Australian Opens recently.
She also combined for the first time with Lim Chiew Sien in the women’s doubles, and they finished runners-up in Australia.
Lai managed to take home RM93,000 in prize money from her latest success.
