BUTTERWORTH (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Believing that she had found the right man, a 57-year-old woman started to bank in money to her "boyfriend" called Andy Lau when he needed help.

In the course of over a month, the civil servant parted with more than RM300,000 (S$99,000).

North Seberang Prai OCPD (officer in charge of police district) Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the man, who used a Facebook account under the name "Andy Lau", claimed to be an American citizen working in the oil and gas industry.

"She befriended him some time end of last year. They then exchanged phone numbers and communicated through WhatsApp.

"About a month into their 'relationship', the suspect started to tell his sad story to gain her sympathy, " he said in a statement on Sunday (Jan 31).

ACP Noorzainy said the woman fell for the ploy and started to lend him money.

"In total, she banked in 49 transactions from mid-October last year until the end of December. She deposited money into 14 bank accounts through several local banks.

"She made the transactions in stages, believing that she would get her money back, " he said.

ACP Noorzainy said the woman finally realised that she had been duped when the suspect kept asking for more money.

The woman lodged a police report on Saturday.

ACP Noorzainy advised the public not to fall victim to such tactics as scammers would resort to various methods to dupe victims.

"We would like to advise the public to be more alert and not easily fall for sad stories or sweet promises from unknown individuals through social media," he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.