Ladies! BEWARE

Thursday June 24, 2010

Victim of an American stalker advises women

By C. MEKALAH
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: She met the American expatriate only once 12 years ago, but ever since that encounter she has been stalked by him.

A chartered secretary, the woman who wanted to be known as Madam May, 43, met the man in 1998 at a talentime held in the factory where he worked.

In October 1998, he started to call her and send vulgar messages and pornographic pictures of other women.

Since September 2009, the man has been using various mobile numbers from Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States to contact her.

“I have no interest in him but he still sends messages and pornographic pictures to my phone,” she said at a press conference organised by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong here yesterday.

“I never had any affair with him and I do not understand why he keeps bothering me when he knows I am a married woman.

“I decided to go to the media because I feel threatened and fear my life could be in danger,” added May.

She said the American sent her a message yesterday, saying “How’s the little devil today, love always.”

She said she has not responded to even one of his numerous messages and has made a total of four police reports since November 2009.

“To all the women out there, please be cautious of men like this,” Chong advised.

Net Love Scams - Nabbed

My face contorted into a painful crunch reading this headline. Age doesn't make  one any wiser, does it?

Tuesday June 22, 2010

73-year-old woman loses RM155,000 to ‘lover’

By ANDREA FILMER
andrea@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: A 73-year-old woman was swindled of RM155,000 in an Internet love scam by a Nigerian syndicate that has been busted by police.

She was the latest victim of the syndicate, which had cheated 110 other women over the last two years of about RM1.35mil.

The other victims included teachers, a lawyer and an engineer who were cheated of money from as little as RM5,000.

Penang deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said the Nigerians had posed as handsome British men, courting their victims, who were all single Penang women, through online chats.

“They took the time to win over the women’s hearts and trust, sometimes to the extent of proposing marriage,” SAC Tun Hishan told a press conference here yesterday.

After about two months of courting, the “British men” conveyed their intention to send the women gifts in the form of laptop computers, mobile phones and cash in American currency.

“The women then received calls from a local woman impersonating a Customs officer, telling them that the parcel had been held up for Customs checks.

“They told the victims that a penalty had to be paid and provided them with bank accounts to pay the fine,” SAC Tun Hisan said.

He said the “British men” and parcels disappeared after the victims banked in the money.

He said the majority of the victims were aged between 20 and 50. Half of them are believed to be college and university students.

The syndicate was busted last Friday when police arrested 11 Nigerian men and three local women in raids on two houses in Seberang Prai and Butterworth after a month of surveillance.

Two computer hard disks, two flash drives, six laptop computers, 36 mobile phones, RM849, US$1,546 (RM5,086), 1,000 (RM4.080) and 1,930 Nigerian nairas (RM41.45) were seized in the raids.

The suspects are aged between 25 and 38, and some of the Nigerians are enrolled as students in institutions of higher education in Penang.

“From documents we recovered, we feel there are more victims out there,” SAC Tun Hisan said.

He urged anyone who had been asked to deposit money into CIMB bank accounts 0733-0022708-4, 0733-0022691-52-3 or 0733-0024037-52-5 to come forward and assist police in investigations.

Scam: Another one

Another reminder.

NEVER trust MEN

Wednesday June 9, 2010

Woman now facing bankruptcy because of ex-lover

By LESTER KONG
lester@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: A Singaporean software engineer has been cheated of not only her life savings but also chalked up credit card bills totalling a quarter million ringgit.

Believing she could help settle her 34-year-old ex-boyfriend’s massive debts, the woman who only wanted to be known as Chang, applied for credit card cash advances from 15 banks and is in danger of being declared a bankrupt.

“It started very small as he said he lost money on football betting. Then the amounts got larger and he said he owed some Ah Long (loan sharks),” she told a press conference organised by the MCA Public Service and Complaints Department yesterday.

Chang, 31, who was in a relationship with the man since September 2008, said he told her that he needed the money to finance his business, which she admitted she knew nothing about.

She said he “suddenly disappeared” in April.

The last message he sent in reply to her numerous unanswered calls read: “Do not call me anymore or I will ...”

Chang said she was now struggling to settle her loans with monthly payments of RM6,000. She earns about the same amount from her job in Singapore.

She added that her family – her mother and a younger brother – knew nothing of her financial troubles.

“I don’t trust men anymore. I trust money more now,” declared a visibly upset Chang.

On Monday, she saw department head Datuk Michael Chong who managed to contact the man’s sister who lives with his family in Kuantan.

“When he came to the department and we confronted him, the man promised to pay Chang RM2,000 monthly so that we would not publicise his picture,” Chong said.

Nevertheless, Chong said he had instructed his lawyers to study Chang’s case and would consider filing a police report if the man did not pay up soon.

Chong said the department had handled 18 cases in the past five years of women being cheated of their money by their boyfriends.

Another internet love scams

I just don't understand this.

This lady is married, for God's sake!

What does she want with a cyber friend?

It's the KIASU mentality, I presume.

Hmmm ...



Woman loses RM1.2mil to ‘British’ man through Internet
Friday June 4, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: A virtual friendship cost a 47-year-old housewife a very real RM1.2mil.


The con man she had befriended on the Internet did not just wipe out her savings but also that of her mother, sister, niece and her husband’s funds for investments.

The woman, who only wanted to be known as Madam Lee, said a man who claimed to be a British offshore engineer named Jeff Brian Manik had added her to his list of online friends last year.


Lee said the man told her that he was sending 10 gifts for Easter, including a designer wrist watch, perfume, a Louis Vuitton bag, jewellery, a laptop computer, a camera and his latest picture through a courier service in April.


“He asked me to pay RM16,500 as a deposit to claim those gifts, which I did by banking the money into two local bank accounts, but I did no see any gifts in the end,” she told a press conference held by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong yesterday.

She said she received an e-mail from a man said to be Manik’s agent about two weeks later who told her Manik wanted to invest in property in Malaysia and needed her help to handle his £2.3mil for the transaction.

“I was convinced after I met the agent at a hotel with a suitcase of pound sterling notes,” she said.

Lee said she deposited cash close to RM400,000 with various agents via various account names between April 20 and May 11 for the transfer of the money here.

She said she deposited RM586,000 into a company account on May 16 after she received a call from one of the agents that there was a 5% tax charge on the £2.5mil.On May 26, Lee said she paid another RM258,000 to the same company.

Lee said she felt something was amiss when she never received the gifts but she was convinced by the so-called agent about the so-called Manik’s interest in investing in Malaysia.

“I just wanted to help a friend but I did not expect it to turn out like this, I just want the money back to repay my family and friends,” she said, adding that she had never met Manik.

This week, she lodged a police report. Chong said he had received complaints from 18 women of a similar cheating scam with losses amounting to more than RM2.4mil since 2007.

“Please be wary of these con men,” he said. “Some of these women were not only cheated of their hearts but all their money, too.”

Chong said the British High Commission had received many complaints of such cases where a man with a British accent would befriend a woman through the Internet.