Student cheated by parcel scam syndicate

SEREMBAN: An acquaintance with a man on Facebook two weeks ago proved disastrous for a 16-year-old girl in Port Dickson, near here, when she lost RM2,000 in a parcel scam.

Port Dickson police chief Supt Aidi Sham Mohamed said the man introduced himself as 'John Hamid' and claimed to be a doctor in the United States.

After two weeks of acquaintanceship, the man offered to buy her gifts in the form of jewellery, handbag and shoes, besides promising to send her money to look for a house for him, as he allegedly wanted to move to Malaysia.

"The victim, who is a secondary school student in Port Dickson, received a call from an alleged courier agent purportedly from the KL International Airport asking her to remit some money for handling the parcel.

"The victim, who used her own savings and money from her mother, had deposited the amount requested into a local bank account," he said in a statement here, today.

Aidi Sham said the student was then asked to deposit more money, but she refused, and lodged a police report on Saturday after she realised that she had been duped.

Meanwhile, he said the Port Dickson district police headquarters' Commercial CID Division had received four reports with losses totalling RM28,100 involving similar modus operandi this year.

-- BERNAMA