A WOMAN in her thirties lost RM11,700 after falling victim to a love scam in which she paid for her ‘virtual’ lover’s quarantine and treatment costs in May.

The victim, who is unemployed, had made several payments to an account using money from her Employees’ Provident Fund account.

Kelantan Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Supt Ahmad Azizul Mohamed said, in the report made by the victim on July 28, the woman stated that she had virtually befriended the suspect, who was purportedly from eastern Europe. The suspect had told the victim he would come to Malaysia to get to her know her better.

“On July 22, the victim received a message from the suspect stating that he had arrived in Malaysia but was being detained at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for quarantine purposes. The next day, the victim was contacted by a woman claiming to be a government employee who asked the victim to settle the quarantine costs of her ‘contact’,” he said today.

He said the victim had made a payment of RM5,200 to a local bank account belonging to a woman. On July 26, the victim made another payment of RM2,000 to the same bank account as a hospital treatment deposit for the suspect, who was said to have tested positive for Covid-19.

“Then, the victim again made payment of RM4,500 the following day as payment for the hospital treatment bill,” he said.

The victim lodged a police report after suspecting that she had been duped when the suspect continued to contact her asking for money for various other reasons. – Bernama, August 1, 2021.