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Two men in Singapore made police reports after falling for what they believe is a love scam.
A 41-year-old, who asked to be identified only by his surname Chen, told Shin Min Daily News (SMDN) that he has spent a total of S$30,000 on gifts for the influencer.
Another victim, a 32-year-old who asked to be identified only by his surname Lim, apparently spent S$3,000 on the same influencer.
The influencer is said to be from Malaysia but is currently based in Taiwan.
What happened
Chen, a salesperson, said he started following the influencer about one to two years ago and became her fan.
In November 2021, the streamer began interacting with her fans and Chen was elated when he received a reply from her on Jan. 14, 2022.
He claimed they started chatting on an almost-daily basis, and that the influencer would also send him selfies.
She soon became a streamer, and asked Chen to support her during her live streams.
He explained, "She told me that the company wanted her to collect 100 'Full of Love' virtual presents and that she wouldn't be able to continue hosting the live stream if she didn't hit this target. She asked me to spend S$50 on these virtual gifts for her."
The influencer hosted streams every weekday, and Chen claimed he once spent S$2,500 on virtual gifts for her.
The pair started "dating" on Mar. 1 and the influencer requested for presents on every 14th day of the month.
Chen explained that it was a symbolic monthly Valentine's Day.
She also demanded that Chen be on top of the gift-giving leaderboard during each of her livestreams, and would get upset if he was unable to do so.
The other men
Chen realised that there was something amiss when parts of their conversations did not add up, and his suspicions were confirmed when other fans of the influencer contacted him in May 2022.
"I'm very disappointed," he admitted. "I know that I won't be able to get my money back but I hope that others don't end up like me. I made a police report and hope that they will investigate."
Chen believes that there are at least five victims -- three in Singapore, one in Malaysia and one in South Korea.
File police reports together
Lim, an engineer, told SMDN that he only became aware of what was going on when Chen contacted him on Jun. 11.
The men decided to go to the police station to file their reports together.
They have also compared the text messages exchanged with the influencer, and found that the contents are identical. The texts were also sent at the same time.
This is an excerpt from a conversation she had with one of the men:
Man: I'm sorry, I'm really not able to give you that sort of present. I can give you smaller gifts.
Woman: (...) In your eyes, am I not worthy of receiving such a gift? Am I that terrible? I know that I'm not the person closest to you, which makes you feel that I'm not worth it. But did you know that you're the most special (person) in my heart? I want to become better and I want everyone to know that I made it with you by my side. Did you know?
Man: It's not that you're lacking in any way. I'm simply not able to give it to you right now.
Woman: Not able? If I only had one minute left to live, would you find a way (to give it to me)?
Man: I'm currently eating health supplements for my stomach, but I'm not going to buy more after my current supply runs out. I just hope that you can understand me (...)
Photo by Shin Min Daily News
Lim says he will "be extremely careful in future" and called the influencer's actions "immoral".
Top photo by Shin Min Daily News.