Love Scam Syndicates

Published by The StarOnline on 4 December 2012.

Love scam syndicate members are trained in the art of sweet-talking potential victims into parting with their cash in the name of love. They select their targets, especially lonely women, and flirt with them online for several months before conning them.

Federal CyberSecurity and Multimedia Investigation Division director Asst Comm Mohd Kamaruddin Din said these syndicates would train new recruits on how to ensure victims fall in love with them. “These syndicates comprise mostly African students who recruit members from their homeland to enter Malaysia with the promise of easy money. These recruits speak fluent English and are trained for about a week or two on how to make their victims fall in love with them in just a few months,” he said.

Link:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/4/nation/20121204071530&sec=nation

Related report:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/4/nation/20121204071448&sec=nation

She had not met him in person but she was willing to give him RM1mil after he told her sob stories about being in financial difficulties. Sarah (not her real name) met John Smith, who claimed to be an offshore engineer in Terengganu, online. Both hit it off right from the start.

Months later, John claimed he was in financial difficulties. His family's construction business in Texas was not doing well due to the global economic slowdown and his company in Malaysia was downsizing. Being “in love”, Sarah, 40, agreed to help him by wiring more than RM400,000 to an account which he claimed was in his mother's name.