Woman In Kuantan Claims She Was Scammed While Trying To 'Adopt' A Baby Via WhatsApp
She was shown photos of three babies through WhatsApp, after which she chose a baby girl at a price of RM4,000.
By Sadho Ram — 19 Sep 2020, 05:11 PM
On Friday, 18 September, a woman lodged a report with the Kuala Lipis police station, claiming that she's a victim of a baby adoption scam
According to a report in Bernama, the 41-year-old woman, who is from Benta in Lipis District, Pahang, had spoken to a female suspect on phone on 4 August about the matter.
A few days after the call, the woman was shown photos of three babies through WhatsApp.
Following which, she chose a baby girl at a price of RM4,000.
"She was directed to make a down payment of RM1,500," Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Superintendent Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof was quoted as saying.
The woman, however, only managed to transfer RM1,200 to the suspect's account.
A file photo of Pahang police CCID chief superintendent Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof.
Image via New Straits TimesIn the next three weeks since transferring RM1,200, the woman then transferred an extra RM1,550 and also provided her personal details
On 11 August, she sent the balance of RM300 as part of the down payment for the baby girl. She also shared her marriage certificate with the suspect for the adoption registration process.
Two days later, the suspect asked for RM500 as a processing fee. Following which, the victim paid an additional RM250 to expedite the process, according to Mohd Wazir.
About eight days later on 21 August, the woman was then told that there were some issues with the registration process for the baby at the National Registration Department (JPN).
On 27 August, the suspect asked for another RM500 to complete the registration process.
For the record, JPN only charges RM30 as registration fee on approval of the application.
