Greed

A friend called me and told me that she had been cheated RM70,000 by a group of syndicate. I was shocked to death. She is an adult with many years of working experience living in a big city. How could this happen to her?

It all started with her Chat room via internet and then get to know someone who told her that he has a business contact from Nigera who would be shipping cash and diamonds via Malaysia and need someone to clear the shipment. Of course they promoised that once if the deal is completed, they will pay her. The first time that they asked money from her was to TT courier fees in order to receive a package which contains some documents which is for clearance of container. Subsequently, they requested more money saying that the shipment cannot be cleared due to custom issues. The money is to be used for this purpose. They assure her that all the money that she has paid upfront will be returned to her once shipment is cleared. Finally, they show her a luggage with stacks of money and told her that she needs to raise US150,000 in order to buy some chemical to remove a "stupid" endorsement on luggage. They told her in order to take the money and diamonds back to UK, the endorsement needs to be removed to avoid custom issue at UK. At this moment, she being to panick and could not take it anymore and confess to her husband that she has gotten into troubles a large sum of money actually was loan from her credit card. Mind you, she was being stressed by the syndicates for almost 3 months without telling anyone. Her husband has brought her to the police station to file a report.

After she told me the whole incident, she admitted that this was due to "greed" that lead her to this bad shape. She is also a person who just get to trust people too easily. She accepted it now and take it as a lesson to learn. I just felt so sorry that this is way too expensive a lesson to pay. I believe she must have revealed a lot of information about herself including her job scope in the logistics/shipping areas. With the information they gathered, they must have told her that they need someone who is familiar with the local clearance process. The reason why she continued to provide money was by then, she was worried that they might harm her son since they have her particulars.

My advice to her is that she needs to be careful when she is chatting with total stranger from the internet. She should not reveal all her identification to someone whom she does not know. I am just a timid person who have no courage to "chat" with anyone whom I do not know. This is a plus point as it is a way to avoid getting into trap set by people who have ill intention to harm the other party.

I need to share this terrible case with my kids to alert them. It is lucky that they cheated her in her home town. I cannot imagine if she has left the country and went to somewhere else to do the transaction, what would have happened to her? I sincerely hope that she has not signed any documents that can lead her to any legal issues. She has to be more alert and sensitive in the future.