KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — A 49-year-old man was swindled out of more than RM20,000 after falling victim to a sperm donation scam that promised a hefty payout in exchange for his participation.

The victim, identified only as Lee, came across an online advertisement featuring an attractive woman, which enticed him to provide his personal information through an online form, according to a report published in The Star today.

Shortly after, Lee was contacted via WhatsApp by a woman claiming to be from Singapore, who introduced herself as Chen and promised that the sperm donation process would involve sexual intercourse.

"Chen sent Lee an alleged picture of herself along with voice messages to enhance the scam. However, we believe the picture was likely taken from a modelling agency,” said MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head, Datuk Seri Michael Chong, during a press conference on Tuesday.

Chen initially asked for RM1,000, claiming it was needed to connect Lee with her lawyer.

After the payment, Lee received a contract from the supposed lawyer offering him RM1 million if he helped Chen conceive.

The contract, sent via WhatsApp, promised an upfront payment of RM300,000 within 48 hours, followed by another RM700,000 once conception was confirmed.

Despite the agreement bearing the name of a well-known Malaysian law firm, Lee, who struggles with reading literacy, didn’t recognise the scam.

He proceeded to pay an additional RM24,000 in "processing fees” before realising something was amiss when the lawyer demanded another RM30,000.

It was then that Lee ceased communication and sought help from Chong.

Upon investigation, Chong contacted the law firm, which confirmed that Chen was not their client and that the scammers had misused their name.

"We suspect the scammers are part of a local syndicate, as they are using the names of local legal firms, tarnishing their reputation,” Chong said.

"The woman’s voice messages had a non-local accent and sounded robotic, which Lee unfortunately did not pick up on. They also exploited Lee's poor reading literacy, allowing him to overlook the broken language in the agreement.”