In a daring move, love scammers (aka romance or dating scams) lure the victim over, kidnap him and demanded ransom from the family. This real story shows the danger of online dating going beyond just risk of simply losing money – he might even lose his life if the police has not rescued him in time. Thankfully, the scammers are arrested.
ALL for the love of the gorgeous “Ms Natasha”, a middle-aged Japanese bachelor flew here last Tuesday to tie the knot, only to find himself kidnapped.
Fortunately for him, Kuala Lumpur police managed to rescue him and arrest three African men and two Filipinas in Kajang on Saturday.
Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said this was the first case of kidnap involving an online romance scam in the country.
Ku, who headed the task-force to track down the victim, said the 51-year-old Japanese national was desperate for a wife and started chatting with a woman via the Skype Internet call service last December.
The suspect introduced herself as “Natasha” from the United States but and based in Malaysia, using a fake profile picture. She subsequently invited the victim to Malaysia to get married on March 12 where he was kidnapped.
The kidnappers demanded his family to pay a ransom of US$50,000 (RM156,000). It is learned the victim’s family banked in a small portion of the ransom money into a bank account in the Philippines and the balance later.
Source: Malay Mail
