Woman loses RM60k in love scam

PETALING JAYA (August 4): A 50-year-old marketing manager in Johor had lost RM60,000 due to a love scam, in which the scammer has impersonated her favourite Singaporean actor Desmond Tan.

Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that the victim, who is known as Kai Li, admitted that her conversations with the scammer started last year when she received a private Facebook message from Tan’s official account.

Kai Li, who is a dedicated fan of Tan, disclosed that she transferred money to the scammer a few times over eight months before she realised the scam.

“He thanked me for my constant support and I was really happy. I’ve supported him since he took part in Star Search and every one of his dramas. I’m his number one fan. Since the message came from his verified account, I believed it was him,” a “heartbroken” Kai Li told the daily.

Kai Li was asked to pay RM7,000 for a trip to meet Tan in Shanghai, but the trip did not happen. She was then asked to lend him RM3,000 to help him settle tax problems.

In end-2019, she sent another RM10,000 as travel fees to meet Tan in Shanghai but the trip went void again. Kai Li later forked out RM40,000 later to ‘help Tan to terminate his contract with his agency’.

To raise the money, Kai Li had to pawn her jewellery and sell her car. She even ended up borrowing from loan sharks.

Tan told Lianhe Wanbao that he was distressed to learn about the matter. The actor said that he would only communicate with his fans via his official fan club, not through private messages, and that he would never ask to borrow money from them.

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