A 27-year-old woman from Malaysia recounts her experience of being scammed by a man impersonating a company manager.
A 27-year-old woman from Malaysia, who works in Singapore, has lost $5,000 after being scammed by a man she met through Facebook Dating. What she believed to be a budding online relationship turned into a fraudulent scheme that led her to invest in fake property and cryptocurrency projects.
Ms. Ong, who only wished to be identified by her surname, shared that in February, she was approached by a man who claimed to be a group manager at Sea, an e-commerce and gaming company. The man started messaging her regularly, and after some time, he introduced an investment opportunity that was supposedly available only to select individuals with an invitation code.
The man sent Ms. Ong a link to a website offering investment options, including Build-To-Order flats, non-fungible tokens, and cryptocurrency. Encouraged by the initial returns, she made an initial investment of $2,100 in early March and received a profit of $315 within an hour. Thinking the scheme was legitimate, Ms. Ong invested an additional $5,000.
Soon after, the man told her she needed to invest more funds in a “special project” before she could withdraw her money. When Ms. Ong explained she had no more money, the scammer pressured her to borrow from family and friends. If she failed to raise the money, she was told she would face a penalty fee. It was at this point that Ms. Ong realized she had fallen victim to a scam.
She filed a police report and froze her bank account. The police confirmed that investigations were ongoing. Ms. Ong expressed regret for her actions, stating, “I blame myself for what happened, for making such a low-level mistake.”
Following the incident, she posted about her experience on Facebook and the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. She received messages from over 30 other victims, many of whom were also allegedly scammed by individuals posing as Sea employees. One victim claimed to have lost $100,000.
Sea, the company allegedly impersonated by the scammer, has issued a statement clarifying that they do not engage in such fraudulent solicitation. They urged the public to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity to feedback@sea.com and the authorities.
This case highlights the growing issue of online scams, with a 29-year-old civil servant also being scammed in a similar incident, which was reported by Lianhe Zaobao.
