Woman cheated suitor of money with fake profile on matchmaking site

A woman with a history of duping men with false promises of marriage to cheat them of their money was back to her antics when she posted a photo on a matchmaking platform to ensnare more victims.

Using a relative's photo, Maliha Ramu, 51, fooled an Indian national, 29, living in Singapore into thinking she would marry him, and over the course of a year, cheated him and his father of $5,750.

Her suitor caught on to the ruse when he found photos on Facebook that looked like the 25-year-old woman that Maliha claimed to be.

Yesterday, she was jailed for seven months after pleading guilty to cheating.

The court heard that Maliha, who lives in Singapore, had created the fake profile "Keerthana" on matchmaking platform Tamil Matrimony, where she described herself as a single woman. When her suitor's 62-year-old father contacted her in hopes of finding a partner for his son in November 2018, Maliha told him to call a land line to speak to her "mother".

Maliha actually lived alone and her mother died in 2002, Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei said.

When the older man called, Maliha pretended to be Keerthana's mother and gave her approval so his son could contact Keerthana.

The suitor, who was 29 at the time, then began speaking to Maliha over the phone. She told him that she worked as a counsellor at an army base in Australia.

Saying she could not make video calls because of where she purportedly worked, she sent him pictures instead, claiming they were of her.

Maliha, who was in Singapore all the while, led him to believe she would marry him on her return from Australia in May 2019. But she kept changing the date, claiming she had new duties overseas.

At some point, she said she needed money to help her clients as a counsellor. He agreed to help and transferred a total of $4,750 to her over four occasions between December 2018 and October 2019.

Maliha also cheated the man's father of $1,000, saying she needed money for her personal expenses.

She promised the suitor she would pay him back, and on Oct 4, 2019, transferred $2,000 from an ATM in Bukit Panjang Plaza to him. This made him suspicious.

He then found a Facebook account belonging to Maliha's relative, and saw a photo similar to the one "Keerthana" sent him.

The DPP said: "The victim discovered this user was already married, and had posted that someone had impersonated her to cheat people."

The suitor tracked down Maliha's relative to a shop in Choa Chu Kang that her family owns. They confirmed that Keerthana was a fake profile, said DPP Seah, who sought a jail term of eight to 10 months. She noted that Maliha was in 2007 jailed for three years for cheating victims of $225,000 after similarly befriending them and promising to marrying them.

Those who cheat can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.