Singaporean actor Desmond Tan urged his fans to be wary of impersonators after a Malaysian fan was scammed of over 60,000MYR (S$19,500).
According to Lianhe Wanbao, 50-year-old fan Kai Li was contacted by someone who had hacked into Tan's verified Facebook account in Oct. 2019 and pretended to be the actor.
As Kai Li considered herself to be Tan's biggest fan, she was overjoyed when the impersonator thanked her for supporting "him" throughout his career.
The two continued to chat through the messaging app LINE, and even developed a romantic relationship online as the impersonator continuously flirted with the sales manager.
Scammed over S$19,500
A week after the impersonator first contacted her, they offered Kai Li a trip to Shanghai to meet him.
They informed her that she only needed to bear 30 per cent of the travel costs, which amounted to 7,000MYR (~S$2,280).
However, the travel plan fell through and Kai Li never got her money back.
Since then, the impersonator would continuously ask for more money, saying that he was facing tax problems and even tried to arrange a second trip to Shanghai, in order to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
The trip naturally fell through as well.
Next, the fake Desmond Tan pretended that he wanted to terminate his contract with Mediacorp, so that he could date Kai Li openly.
He then asked Kai Li for 40,000MYR (~S$13,000) to make it happen.
In the end, Kai Li spent over 60,000MYR (~S$19,500) on the impersonator over eight months.
She even pawned her jewellery, sold her car, and borrowed from loan sharks to raise the money needed.
Tan warned fans he would never ask for money
In an interview with the Chinese daily, Tan said that he was distressed over the fan's plight, and reminded everyone that he would never message them privately, let alone ask for money.
"I'm worried that some fans may not be familiar with the Internet, or maybe they'll believe the scammers' words, so I want to remind everyone that I'll not contact anyone privately through social media."
He also stated that he will usually interact with his fans through his official fan club.
Photo from @thedesmondtan | Instagram story.
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Top images from @thedesmondtan | Instagram and Unsplash.