It’s a classic online love story; boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl runs away with boy’s savings. Vice versa.
Three people, two men and a woman, were arrested by the police last week for allegedly running an online love scam using the popular chatting app WeChat.
Shah Alam district police chief ACP Shafien Mamat told The New Straits Times that their modus operandi was simple: they would use WeChat to send flirtatious messages to random men and those who respond to the messages would be lured into meeting up with the female suspect.
“These dates would more often than not be at a restaurant. The female suspect would entertain the target at these romantic meetings.
“However, usually on the third date with the guy, the woman’s ‘husband and brother-in-law’ would show up unannounced, supposedly shocked at what was going on,” ACP Shafien told the daily, adding that the two male suspects would then demand money from the men.
The suspects would allegedly demand at least RM3,000 from the victims, who would usually pay up to avoid any trouble, according to ACP Shafien.
Acting on four police reports, the police eventually nabbed the suspects, aged between 26 and 29, at a restaurant in Shah Alam at 9.30pm on June 7 while they were trying to con a 27-year-old man.
ACP Shafien further added that the suspects are believed to have conned no less than four men and have raked in around RM15,000 over the last three months.
“We believe that these conmen had tricked even more people. We urge those who have been duped by them to come forward and assist our investigation,” he was quoted as saying.
