Latest news with #loveScam
CNA
01-07-2025
- CNA
Maid gets jail for helping fellow domestic helper transfer S$116,000 for TikTok 'friend'
SINGAPORE: As a favour for a fellow maid, a domestic helper transferred more than S$116,000 (US$91,193) to a Thai bank account, but part of the money turned out to be the proceeds of internet love scams. Galvez Mary Joe Blanco, the maid who carried out the transfer, was given 40 days' jail, according to a judgment made available over the weekend. Galvez, 36, had pleaded guilty to one charge of transferring S$116,154.51 from her POSB account to a Kasikornbank account in May 2024. She was accused of failing to take reasonable steps to ascertain the destination of the money. According to court papers, Galvez worked in a household with another maid - 57-year-old Filipino Maria Luz Suerte Lopez. In May 2024, Maria received a friend request on TikTok from a person known as Alex Stillinger who introduced himself as personnel from the United States Army and began chatting with Maria on TikTok daily. About two weeks after they started chatting, Alex asked Maria to help receive money that he had purportedly earned through gold investments. Maria agreed, but said she did not have a bank account. She then turned to the accused, Galvez, for help. According to the judgment, Maria told Galvez that a friend needed help to receive money from his gold investment business, and to remit it to a Thai bank account. For each transaction Galvez helped with, she would receive "a small token sum", the judgment stated. Between May 15 and May 29 last year, Alex transferred a total of S$118,133 into Galvez's POSB bank account. Galvez then transferred about S$116,000 to a Kasikornbank bank account belonging to a person called "Saichit Jeremiah". Investigations later revealed that S$20,300 of this amount was directly traceable to scam proceeds from two victims. VICTIMS WERE SINGAPOREAN WOMEN Both victims are Singaporean women, aged 61 and 70, who fell for internet love scams and later lodged police reports. The 70-year-old woman had been scammed into transferring a total of S$108,500, but only a small sum was in the amount funnelled through Galvez. The rest was dissipated into other bank accounts. Galvez was arrested in October 2024. She surrendered S$1,151.50, which was what she earned from the arrangement. No other funds were recovered from her bank account. The prosecution sought five to six-and-a-half months' jail for Galvez, saying that a critical component that allows sophisticated organised criminal groups to commit scams is offenders based in Singapore like Galvez. Galvez's lawyer, Mr Danny Quah from CHP Law, sought a report to assess Galvez for probation, or a fine of S$3,780. This was five times Galvez' monthly salary. Mr Quah later asked for two to three weeks' jail if the court was going to impose jail instead. In mitigation, he said Galvez was "a naive individual who thought she was being kind and helpful but was instead tricked and manipulated by her fellow domestic helper into facilitating the transfer of monies from her bank account". District Judge Crystal Goh noted the gravity of scam-related offences and the public interest in suppressing scams, but noted that Galvez did not relinquish control of her bank account in this case. Maria pleaded guilty separately and was given five months' jail.
Malay Mail
27-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Penang factory manager falls for fake US businessman, loses RM300,000 in Facebook romance scam
GEORGE TOWN, June 27 — An analysis manager at a factory in Bayan Baru, here, lost RM300,000 after falling victim to a love scam through social media. Penang Police deputy chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the incident began when the 45-year-old woman became acquainted with a man claiming to be an American citizen via Facebook in November last year. He said not long after, they started communicating via WhatsApp after the man allegedly expressed a desire to pursue a serious relationship with the victim. 'The suspect introduced himself as a businessman in the field of information technology (IT), claiming to be operating a business in a foreign country. 'After a month of getting to know one another, the suspect told the victim that his bank account had been frozen in that country and asked for her help to make payments for the delivery of important stock related to his business,' he said in a statement today. Mohd Alwi said the suspect promised to repay the money and even offered additional payment as a token of appreciation to convince the victim. Lured by the online romance and trusting the suspect, the woman then made 16 transactions to five different bank accounts between December 12 and 14, 2024. However, the victim realised that she had been scammed when the suspect asked for more money, allegedly to cover his travel expenses to visit her in Malaysia. He also sent her a tampered photo of a passport. Mohd Alwi said the woman lodged a police report at the Barat Daya police headquarters yesterday. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama
Free Malaysia Today
11-06-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Dozens nabbed for running Bali love scam targeting American men
The scammers chatted up their victims through Telegram and sent them fake links. (EPA Images pic) DENPASAR : Indonesian police have arrested dozens on the popular resort island of Bali for allegedly running a love scam syndicate targeting American men, they said today. Police made the arrests after being tipped off about suspicious activity at a rented home in Denpasar, the island's capital. A total of 38 suspects, seven of them women, were arrested. 'They pretended to be women by using women's pictures and fake identity to ensnare their victims,' Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya told a press conference. The scammers confessed they were working for someone who controlled the business from Cambodia to lure American men to hand over sensitive information, he said. They chatted up their victims through the Telegram messenger app and sent them fake links. The suspects were paid US$200 each per month to steal the victims' data and information, Daniel said. The suspects, all Indonesians, face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of violating the country's electronic transaction law. Police had previously said many scammers had moved to Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries after China cracked down on domestic networks. In 2019, Indonesian police arrested 85 Chinese nationals and six Indonesians over an online scam that tricked victims out of millions of dollars. In 2023, they arrested 88 Chinese nationals in Batam, in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands, for running a syndicate that has scammed hundreds of victims in China by luring them into sexual acts and then blackmailing them with video footage. Many of the victims were public officials, police said.
CNA
11-06-2025
- CNA
Dozens arrested for Indonesian love scam ring targeting American men
DENPASAR: Indonesian police have arrested dozens on the popular resort island of Bali for allegedly running a love scam syndicate targeting American men, they said on Wednesday (Jun 11). Police made the arrests after being tipped off about suspicious activity at a rented home in Denpasar, the island's capital. A total of 38 suspects, seven of them women, were arrested. "The suspects arrested worked as operators whose job is to find the love scam victims; they targeted Americans who have a Telegram account," Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya told a press conference. "They pretended to be women by using women's pictures and fake identity to ensnare their victims." The suspects confessed they were working for someone who controlled the business from Cambodia to lure American men to hand over sensitive information, Daniel said. They chatted up their victims through the Telegram messenger app and sent them fake links. The suspects were paid US$200 each per month to steal the victims' data and information, Daniel said. Police initially detained nine suspects together, leading to the arrest of the others accused of a role in the syndicate. The suspects, all Indonesians, face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of violating the country's electronic transaction law. Police had previously said many scammers had moved to Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries after China cracked down on domestic networks. In 2019, Indonesian police arrested 85 Chinese nationals and six Indonesians over an online scam that tricked victims out of millions of dollars. In 2023, they arrested 88 Chinese nationals in Batam, in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands, for running a syndicate that had scammed hundreds of victims in China by luring them into sexual acts and then blackmailing them with video footage.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
'Furious' pensioner falls victim to Dr Chris Brown love scam as fraudsters use AI to trick her out of $780
A New Zealand grandmother is the latest victim to be targeted by a love scam using AI-generated videos and images of Dr Chris Brown. Daana Tomlin, 73, was conned out of $786 when she was tricked into believing she had struck up a five-year long online romance with the 46-year-old Bondi Vet star. The fraudsters used emotionally manipulative messages to convince the pensioner she was in a romantic relationship with the star, reported The Daily Telegraph. They first made contact with a 'cheeky message' on Facebook while posing as Chris, before moving Daana to Telegram and WhatsApp to continue the manipulation. Daana, a semi-retired naturopath from Dunedin, said she was conned into sending the scammers almost $800 through gift cards, Apple cards and PayPal. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The hoaxers used sophisticated AI-generated videos of Chris to speak to Daana and convince her to hand over her cash. 'Whenever I became suspicious and tried to end contact, he'd get angry and send me a video saying he was real. It certainly sounded and looked like him,' she said. 'I'm furious that it's not the real Chris Brown, I paid a few hundred dollars for a meet and greet at New Zealand airport through Apple Cards and gift cards.' However, when Chris was a no-show at the airport, Daana asked security for help and they said 'they had not seen him'. Daana said she 'feels silly and embarrassed' for believing it was real, adding the fake Chris would call her 'his wife' and rang 'for five years at 5.30 every morning'. 'What the scammer did was evil, it was devious, exploitative and invasive,' said Daana, who was married for 19 years and has a grown son. She added she 'thought a need was being met' in her and didn't discover she was being scammed until her support worker discovered the PayPal payments. The fraudster had claimed they bought Daana a car as a present, but demanded she send several hundred dollars through PayPal to pay for the registration. Daana isn't the first to fall victim to the sophisticated and long-running love scam. Last month it was reported UK pensioner Lisa Nock was also conned out of her life savings after falling for the same AI scam. The 44-year-old from Staffordshire was browsing Instagram in 2022 when a fake account posing as Chris bombarded her with direct messages. Lisa admitted she was lonely and vulnerable at the time after losing her partner in a car crash, and had been left disabled in another traffic accident. But the avid animal lover said her life changed and she was delighted when the TV star said he wanted to meet her in England. 'I was chuffed that Chris Brown had messaged me, I'm a huge fan and hoped this might be our chance to meet,' Lisa told the Daily Telegraph at the time. The surprise messages began a chain of correspondence that spanned two-and-a-half years, but the scammers soon told her Chris needed money to visit her. They moved the conversation to WhatsApp and continued to groom her, using artificial intelligence to convince her she was in a romantic relationship with him. 'After a few months, I admit I was enamoured. He told me he loved me and wanted us to marry – of course I said no, and asked if it was a scam,' Lisa said. She tried calling the WhatsApp number, but her attempts were blocked. Scammers then used a sophisticated AI program to call Lisa via the encrypted messaging app Telegram. An AI-generated version of Chris said he hoped the call had cleared her doubts. The conmen also used AI image generators to create 'photos' of the TV doctor and shared them with Lisa, a volunteer English and drama teacher. She lives off just $1246 each month from her UK pension, two thirds of which she pays to her parents in rent. The remaining $400 however ended up being sent to the cruel scammers each month for almost three years. Lisa sent the money through gift cards, Bitcoin and Crypto information. 'I was vulnerable and wanted to believe we could be friends, we both love animals, I had lost my partner in a car crash a few years ago,' she said. Lisa finally realised it was all fake when the conmen posed as Chris' 'management' team and told her he had been kidnapped, before demanding $40 million. Lisa has now reported the scam to British police.
