She gave RM1 million to an online lover she had not met

An insurance broker received a rude shock when she lost more than RM1mil in an Internet scam.

The woman, identified only as Lim, 47, gave RM1,021,000 in total to Kevin Axcel Brown @ Joe, whom she “met” in an online matchmaking site in September.

Joe claimed he was a 48-year-old Canadian chemical engineer with Petronas in Tereng­ganu and had used different telephone numbers to communicate.

MCA’s Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said most cases of Internet fraud involved promises of joint business ventures and marriage.

“There have been 13 cases of Internet fraud this year and nine of the victims were female.

“None of them had seen their scammers’ faces and yet could fall in love with them,” Chong added.

Joe had asked Lim for a RM1mil loan last October to settle his financial troubles and she deposited it into three different bank accounts registered under the name of Zanariah.

He then said he was abroad, but asked her to meet him at KLIA on Dec 7.

She waited for four hours in vain.

She had also transferred an extra US$7,000 (RM21,000) for Joe’s travel expenses.

Besides her savings, Lim had also borrowed from friends, family and financial organisations to raise the RM1mil.