Watch out for the online 'boyfriend'

Watch out for the online 'boyfriend'
By Tanya Fong | Posted: 16 March 2011 0617 hrs

SINGAPORE - Some say it is better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all.

But 19 Singaporean women who lost both money and their hearts on dating websites might disagree.

They had fallen prey to a resurgence of "Internet love scams", Channel NewsAsia has learnt.

Between October last year and January, the women - mostly from their late 20s to their 50s as well as a 73-year-old - were cheated of $787,000 in total by their online "boyfriends", police said.

The men, mostly foreigners, befriended the women through dating or social networking sites such as be2.com, zoosk.com, tagged.com and wayn.com.

After building a romance online with their victims, the fraudsters asked for money to be sent overseas for various reasons, such as being held at customs on their way to Singapore to meet the women.

One woman in her 30s lost $300,000 when she fell for the "marriage ruse" - her virtual boyfriend asked for a loan to process his father's inheritance and promised to come to Singapore to marry her.

Another victim, who wanted to be known only as Miss Tan, told Channel NewsAsia in an exclusive interview that she was cheated of $13,000 over three months by a man she befriended last August on dating website tagged.com.

The 40-year-old human resource manager chatted online every night, sometimes via webcam, with the so-called director of a London-based electronics firm.

"I felt he was sincere, and the relationship was real," she said.

He first asked if she would like to donate money to a church group in Africa.

She donated about $200 through a remittance house.

He then asked her to invest in his company. "I did my checks and the company existed. When I asked why his name wasn't on the board of directors, he said he was a sleeping partner and even had 'his lawyer' on the webcam," said Miss Tan.

After more than $10,000 was transferred, her "boyfriend" disappeared.

Channel NewsAsia contacted California-based tagged.com which has 100 million users worldwide and a spokesman said it takes the issue "very seriously". "Tagged is committed to the safety and security of its users in every country and always stands ready to assist law enforcement to resolve any abuse complaints," he said.

Police believe most of the fraudsters may be African, although the women might be led to believe they are Caucasians.

And enforcement is difficult when there are fake identities and personal details.

Police spokesman Deputy Superintendent Lau Kian Keong said: "Be careful when befriending strangers online. Don't put yourself in a vulnerable position or reveal personal details about yourself or transfer money to them through banks or remittance agencies."

In Singapore, matching and dating site eSynchrony.com only allows clients to date locally.

It also blocks overseas IP addresses and requires subscribers to register with their identity card or employment pass.

- TODAY /ls

- wong chee tat :)