Miri retiree loses RM160,000 to romance scammer

PDRM logo

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, July 31: A retiree, in her early 70s, from Miri lost RM160,000 of her savings to a love scammer within three months after getting acquainted with the fraudster via a social messaging application.

Sarawak Commissioner of Police Dato Mancha Ata revealed that the incident unfolded when the woman became acquainted with a man identified at ‘Dr Wang Muyang’ through the Line social messaging app in early April this year.

The two began chatting on the app, and she fell in love with him.

“At one point, ‘Dr Wang’ then told the victim that he wanted to send a gift to her as a sign of their acquaintance.

“A week later, the victim was informed by Customs about a parcel in her name containing a prohibited item, which was United States dollars,” he stated in a press statement today.

To retrieve the parcel and settle the case, the victim was required to make payment.

In a state of panic, the woman, starting from the end of April until July, performed nine money transactions in stages to four different bank accounts, amounting to about RM160,000.

The victim then realised she was deceived and informed her children about the incident. Subsequently, a police report on the case was lodged yesterday (July 30). — DayakDaily