Malaysian police have held a media conference displaying the goods seized in a recent love scam syndicate bust they carried out earlier this month.
Fourteen members of the gang, all residing in the Kuala Lumpur area, were arrested, and in the group, were two women. Suspects were aged between 30 and 40, and came from a series of West African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and the Republic of Guinea.
A senior Shah Alam police official described that among the seized goods were high-end computers and smartphones that were used to lure in their prey. The syndicate is said to have targeted senior citizen women via Facebook, often preying on widowed, lonely ladies.
After wooing them via the site, they would ask for their WhatsApp contact information, and continue the relationship on that platform, eventually asking their victims to send them money.
Some of the women reported that their paramours had promised them marriage.
Authorities seized a Lexus, 16 laptops, 52 mobile phones, and RM30,000 (US$7,500) in cash in the bust.
Between January and April of this year, seven separate police reports had been filed in cases that trace back to several love-scam syndicates, with a total loss of RM2 million (US$500,000) in cash. Police are alarmed at the sheer number of funds stolen, saying that it is far higher than last year’s loss of nearly RM900,000 (US$216,000), spread across 16 police reports.
