Woman ‘stripped’ of RM39,000 in scam
NATION
Monday, 29 Jan 2018
Still afraid: Amy with Chaw holding up copies of reports filed with the MCMC and the police during the press conference in Ipoh.
IPOH: A clerical assistant bared her heart and then her body to her online beau, only to find to her horror that the “handsome American man” she met on WeChat was a scammer and blackmailer.
The 24-year-old, identified only as Amy, already paid more than RM39,000 to “Morgan Deavour Andrew”, whom she met in September.
“We only chatted on social media but I felt that we were very compatible and I fell in love,” she told a press conference held by Perak DAP Public Complaints Bureau chief Steven Chaw here yesterday.
“He said he loved me and called me ‘honey’, and I called him ‘hubby’.
“One day, he told me he needed money for his ailing mother’s treatment and asked to borrow RM1,000 because he had lost his wallet.”
He told her to bank the money into an account in the name of one Nurul Hekmah, she said, and kept asking for more money after that.
Amy did not suspect anything at first because he told her the account belonged to an agency he hired to do easy money transfers.
“He sent me a photograph of a handsome Caucasian man and said it was him and asked for nude photos of me in return,” she said.
“I did a video chat in the nude and he took screenshots of it.”
She said she kept sending him money and even borrowed some from her friend after using up all her savings.
Amy said “Morgan” promised to come to Malaysia and repay her in full, but on Jan 18, he told her he had been detained at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and needed more money for his release.
“I only realised then I was being cheated. When I refused to send him money, he threatened the authorities would find and expose my nude pictures in his briefcase at the airport,” she added.
Amy said he continued to harass her but she stopped talking to him.
“I hope the police will stop the man from circulating my pictures,” she said.
Chaw said he has spoken to the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“I hope people will be more vigilant and avoid being scammed,” he said, adding that his bureau handled 11 blackmail cases last year.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/29/woman-stripped-of-rm39000-in-scam-online-casanova-threatened-to-expose-her-nude-pictures-after-she-c/#JERRCtTH5OFYZ209.99
