Sabah woman loses RM2.5 million to 'Oppa Ji Won'

PENAMPANG - A woman lost a whopping RM2.5 million after falling victim to a love scam syndicate.

The 46-year-old woman who worked as a manager in a private company in Kota Kinabalu realised she was scammed after she lost contact with the man who claimed to be from Korea before lodging a police report on Wed.

Sabah police commissioner Dtuk Jauteh Dikun said investigations found the woman knew the suspect through Instagram, where he introduced himself as Ji Won from Korea.

"Their relationship grew as both communicated constantly on WhatsApp, and the suspect spoke about his oil and gas business in Italy.

"He claimed that his bank account had issues before asking for money from the victim to make company purchases.

"On the basis of trust, the victim made the payment in 41 installments into 24 different accounts totaling over RM2.5 million between May 26 and July 4, as requested by the suspect," he said in a press conference at the Penampang District Police Headquarters (IPD) on Thursday.

Jauteh added that the victim felt she was scammed after the money was not returned and she was asked to make additional payments.

"The suspect could no longer be reached, and investigations were carried out under Section 420 of the Penal Code," he said.

Jauteh also reminded the public not to be deceived by love scams.

"Don't be deceived by beautiful or handsome profile pictures on social media, and don't be tempted by their sweet talk.

"Social media users are advised to be careful in choosing friends online, especially those who are from overseas, and most importantly, to avoid giving loans or transferring money to unknown individuals.

"And if they receive such requests from social media friends via short messaging system (SMS) or e-mail, they can check http://ccid.rmp.gov.my/semakmule/ or download the 'CCID Semak Mule' application before making any transactions," he said.