Trickster used charm and God
New Straits Times
Thursday, Oct 20, 2011
His profile in an online match-making site said he was a doctor based in Georgia in the United States.
He was also good looking.
Seeing his profile, Lina, a civil servant in her early 50s, decided to get to know him. She started chatting with him last October.
By March, the spinster had lost RM300,000 (S$121,830) and her American doctor friend, had allegedly died.
Lina knew then that she had been had.
"What drew me to this man was his gentle mannerisms, his patience and obvious concern for me," she told the New Straits Times.
The relationship took off when he started calling her daily and Lina was smitten.
"He knew how to push my buttons. He knew what I was looking for in a relationship and used that to convince me that he was sincere.
"He knew that I was religious and he played that very well too."
In their conversations, Lina said he would talk to her about religion.
"He even told me that God had brought us together," she said, adding that he was not shy about revealing his feelings to her.
But when she asked if they could chat via Skype, an online video conferencing tool, he refused.
"I was a bit suspicious but let it go. But three weeks into our relationship, he began asking me for money."He was really convincing. He told me his business in Mexico was in financial trouble. He would cry over the phone and tell me loads of sob stories.
"I had no money of my own and since I really thought that we had a future together, I turned to loan sharks. One of them warned me that I was being taken for a ride, but I didn't believe him."
In the end, Lina sold some of the properties she owned and transferred about RM300,000 in 25 transactions over three months to overseas accounts.
And when she had no more money, he stopped calling.
She tried hard to reach him and in March this year, someone, who claimed to be a friend of her American boyfriend, called to say that he had died.
"He told me to stop calling that number. That was when I realised I had been cheated. He promised me a future but he crushed my dreams."
Several months later, Lina started checking if other women had suffered the same fate.
"Then, I came across a story of an Australian woman who related her ordeal on the Internet.
"She had put up what the man had told her during the relationship.
"I was shocked to see that the man in that case had used the same words and the same phrases on the Australian woman."
New Straits Times
Thursday, Oct 20, 2011
His profile in an online match-making site said he was a doctor based in Georgia in the United States.
He was also good looking.
Seeing his profile, Lina, a civil servant in her early 50s, decided to get to know him. She started chatting with him last October.
By March, the spinster had lost RM300,000 (S$121,830) and her American doctor friend, had allegedly died.
Lina knew then that she had been had.
"What drew me to this man was his gentle mannerisms, his patience and obvious concern for me," she told the New Straits Times.
The relationship took off when he started calling her daily and Lina was smitten.
"He knew how to push my buttons. He knew what I was looking for in a relationship and used that to convince me that he was sincere.
"He knew that I was religious and he played that very well too."
In their conversations, Lina said he would talk to her about religion.
"He even told me that God had brought us together," she said, adding that he was not shy about revealing his feelings to her.
But when she asked if they could chat via Skype, an online video conferencing tool, he refused.
"I was a bit suspicious but let it go. But three weeks into our relationship, he began asking me for money."He was really convincing. He told me his business in Mexico was in financial trouble. He would cry over the phone and tell me loads of sob stories.
"I had no money of my own and since I really thought that we had a future together, I turned to loan sharks. One of them warned me that I was being taken for a ride, but I didn't believe him."
In the end, Lina sold some of the properties she owned and transferred about RM300,000 in 25 transactions over three months to overseas accounts.
And when she had no more money, he stopped calling.
She tried hard to reach him and in March this year, someone, who claimed to be a friend of her American boyfriend, called to say that he had died.
"He told me to stop calling that number. That was when I realised I had been cheated. He promised me a future but he crushed my dreams."
Several months later, Lina started checking if other women had suffered the same fate.
"Then, I came across a story of an Australian woman who related her ordeal on the Internet.
"She had put up what the man had told her during the relationship.
"I was shocked to see that the man in that case had used the same words and the same phrases on the Australian woman."
