KEPALA BATAS, July 11 ― A woman lost RM112,000 after falling prey to a member of a love scam syndicate who claimed to be a member of the United States (US) army.

Seberang Perai Utara district police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the woman, aged 37 and a teacher, claimed she befriended the US soldier through the Telegram application last May and they became close, with the man then expressing his intention to marry her.

"The man told the woman he wanted to meet with her and then marry her because he loved her, but had to borrow RM65,000 from her for his expenses to come to Malaysia and also for the wedding expenses as his bank account had been frozen.

 "The man also said that because of the Covid-19 pandemic he had to take insurance coverage and for that the woman took a personal loan for RM47,000 and then transferred the money into the man’s bank account.

"In all, 17 transactions of money transfer into the man’s account were made by the woman before realising that she had fallen for a love scam and lodged a police report after her attempt to contact the man went futile since last Tuesday,” he said, adding that the woman lodged the police report yesterday.

In another development, Noorzainy said a government retiree was cheated of RM21,985 by a Macau Scam.

He said the victim, aged 63, claimed to receive a call from a man claiming to be an officer from Bank Negara seeking verification on the usage oh his credit card, and requested the victim to give him the TAC number that was sent.

"The victim provided the TAC number, but became suspicious and then checked with the bank, which told him that RM21,985 had been charged to his credit card and the amount was transferred to a Big Pay (e-wallet) account,” he added. ― Bernama