Teacher deceived by cyber love, loses RM62,000

A kindergarten teacher lost RM62,000 to a man whom she met and professed his love to her on the Internet.

Perak Commercial Criminal Investigation Department head Supt Lee Ewe Kiang said the teacher, who is a 36-year-old single mother, befriended the man through a social website last year.

"They had never met and only chat on the social website, but their friendship grew until the man professed his love to her and then sought her sympathy for financial assistance.

"Within six months of knowing the man, the woman was deceived into depositing a total of RM62,000 into a third party account as requested by the man," he told a media conference here Thursday.

He said the woman, who is from Slim River, lodged a police report after realising that she had been duped.

Following investigation, Lee said police detained a 44-year-old woman at a supermaket in Petaling Jaya, Selangor last March 3.

The woman was believed to be the bearer of the bank account into which the kindergarten teacher was asked to deposit the money into, he added.

Following her arrest, he said, police raided Pangsapuri Flora Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and arrested six Nigerian men, including a private college student, aged between 24 and 37.

All of them had entered the country using student visas, he added.