M'sia woman cheated of $35,000 by man she met at Genting Highlands
She was on holiday with her mother in April at Genting Highlands when she met a man who claimed to be a wealthy mining businessman from China.
He said he was there on holiday and wanted to get to know her.
The man, known only as Zhu, turned out to be a cheat. He borrowed nearly RM90,000 (S$35,000) from the 33-year-old woman before disappearing.
And she was not his only victim.
Zhu used the "discover people nearby" function via the messaging app WeChat to find his victims.
Relationship turned intimate
The 33-year-old woman, who wanted to be known only as Betty, said: "He sent a message to me via WeChat. He was still an unknown user to me at the time and claimed to be on holiday from China."
"I approved his ‘friend’ request and after chatting over the phone, we became friends."
Their relationship turned intimate, and Zhu invited her back to Genting Highlands. It was then that Zhu started using her money to gamble.
She said: "After losing all the money, he persuaded me to borrow RM20,000 from a loan shark, promising to repay me as he was waiting for a relative to send him money from China."
But Zhu also gambled that money away, said Betty.
She borrowed more money from several loan sharks, but he gambled that away as well. Zhu then disappeared.
Withdrew savings
The single mother of three said that in total, she borrowed more than RM50,000 from several loan sharks and withdrew more than RM30,000 of her savings for Zhu.
On Wednesday, she sought the help of the Malaysian Chinese Association public services and complaints department head Michael Chong.
Mr Chong urged other victims cheated by the man to come forward so that he could assist them.
He said: "I have already contacted the authorities to monitor him.
"In most cases, these conmen would lure their victim on the Internet, but in this case, using WeChat is the latest way."
Source: The Star
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