Four Suspects arrested in Malaysia for Perpetrating Romance Scam

On August 13, four foreign nationals who perpetrated a romance scam were arrested in the Melaka, Malaysia.

According to authorities, in the early hours of Wednesday, Malaysian police launched a raid and arrested three Nigerian men and an Indonesian woman aged between 39 and 47.

The four suspects are said to have been active in the state for the past six months. They purportedly abused student visas to enter Malaysia and used fake names to create Facebook accounts to carry out fraudulent activities.

Police further stated that the suspects fabricated personal information in an attempt to establish a romantic relationship with their victims. They impersonated lovers or suitors who were abroad and then used the trust of their victims to manipulate them into transferring money through e-wallet platforms.

In addition, Malaysian police also seized items such as two laptops, eight cell phones and six passports with a total value of about RM15,000 during the raid.

Social Media Forensics experts have investigated the seized items and found that the fraud group primarily targeted individuals in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Police urged the public to exercise caution when interacting with strangers online and not to be easily fooled by sweet words and false promises.

BrokersView reminds you

Romance scams often appear with investment scams or other forms of fraud, leaving the victim to suffer great financial loss as well as great psychological stress.

To avoid becoming a victim of such scams, investors are advised to carefully check the regulatory status of the online trading platform and avoid dealing with unlicensed brokers before conducting transactions.