JOHOR BARU: An attempt to borrow money from a seemingly legitimate company in Singapore has turned a 32-year-old woman’s life into a nightmare.
The supermarket employee, who wished to be identified only as Tee, said she wanted to take up a loan for her investments.
“I came across an advertisement on Facebook about a licensed moneylending company’s offer of a loan.
“I clicked on the link in the advertisement and was directed to the WhatsApp number of a man who introduced himself as a company representative.
“He said that in order for me to get the S$50,000 (RM164,136) loan, I would first have to pay 7% government tax. So, I credited S$3,500 (RM11,489) into the bank account number he gave me.
“He then said there was a problem with the transaction and told me to pay again.
“He promised that the money would be returned once the loan was approved,” she told a press conference at the Johor MCA office here on Wednesday (Dec 21).
After Tee had transferred S$7,000 (RM22,979) in total, the man asked her for a further S$6,000 (RM19,696), purportedly for legal fees.
“I told him I did not have any more money and wanted to cancel the loan. At this point, I felt that something was not right.
“He said I had to pay S$7,500 (RM24,620) as a cancellation fee. I told him I would try to figure something out but he did not take it too well,” she said.
Tee said she later learned that the company did…
