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Two men in Singapore have lodged a complaint with the police after falling for a romance scam.
A 41-year-old, who asked to be identified with just his last name, Chen, recounted Daily Shin Min News (SMDN) that he spent a total of S$30,000 on gifts for the influencer.
Another victim, a 32-year-old who asked to be identified by his last name, Lim, apparently spent S$3,000 on the same influencer.
The influencer is said to be from Malaysia but currently resides in Taiwan.
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What happened
Chen, a seller, said he started following the influencer about a year or two ago and became her fan.
In November 2021, the streamer began interacting with her fans, and Chen was thrilled to receive a response from her on January 14, 2022.
He claimed they started chatting almost daily and the influencer would also send him selfies.
She soon became a streamer and asked Chen to assist her with her live streams.
He explained: “She told me the company wanted her to collect 100 virtual ‘Full of Love’ gifts and if she didn’t meet that goal she wouldn’t be able to continue hosting the live stream. She asked me to spend S$50 on these virtual gifts for her.”
The influencer hosted streams every weekday, and Chen claimed he once spent S$2,500 on virtual gifts for her.
The pair began “dating” on March 1, and the influencer asked for gifts on the 14th of every month.
Chen explained that this is a symbolic monthly Valentine’s Day.
She also required Chen to be at the top of the gift-giving leaderboard for each of her live streams, and would be upset if he didn’t.
The other men
Chen realized something was off when parts of their conversations didn’t add up, and his suspicions were confirmed when other fans of the influencer contacted him in May 2022.
“I’m very disappointed,” he admitted. “I know I won’t get my money back, but I hope others aren’t like me. I have lodged a complaint with the police and I hope they will investigate.”
Chen believes there are at least five victims – three in Singapore, one in Malaysia and one in South Korea.
File a police report together
Lim, an engineer, tells SMDN that he only realized what was going on when Chen contacted him on June 11.
The men decided to go to the police station to file a complaint together.
They also compared the text messages exchanged with the influencer and found that the content was identical. The texts were also sent at the same time.
This is an excerpt of a conversation she had with one of the men:
Man: I’m sorry, I really can’t give you a gift like that. I can give you smaller gifts.
Woman: (…) Do you think I’m not worthy of receiving such a gift? am i that terrible I know I’m not the person closest to you, which makes you feel like I’m not worth it. But did you know that you are the special (person) in my heart? I want to get better and I want everyone to know that I made it with you by my side. Did you know?
Man: It’s not that you’re missing it in any way. I just can’t give it to you right now.
Woman: Unable? If I had just one minute left to live, would you find a way (to give it to me)?
Man: I’m currently eating supplements for my stomach, but I won’t buy any more when my current supply runs out. I just hope you can understand me (…)
Photo by Shin Min Daily News
Lim says he will be “extremely careful going forward” and called the influencer’s actions “immoral”.
Top photo from Shin Min Daily News.