Dream of a home and holiday dashed by loan sharks

JOHOR BARU: A former receptionist’s dream of moving into a house and travelling to Taiwan crumbled after she was victimised by loan sharks.

The 25-year-old woman, who asked to be identified only as Chong, said she wanted to move with her siblings into a house after renting rooms for five years working in Singapore.

She decided to look for a loan service online and found a website that seemed legitimate on July 24.

Chong then contacted the company on Aug 1 and asked for a loan of S$5,000 (RM17,136), planning to use part of it to pay the deposit on a rented house and the rest to go on holiday in Taiwan.

She also provided the company with her personal particulars as requested.

On Aug 2, S$600 (RM2,056) was transferred to her account and a “company representative” then contacted her.

“That’s when things went sideways, as I was told that I had to make an interest payment of S$500 (RM1,713) every week.

“I then asked to cancel the loan, but was told I would have to pay S$1,100 (RM3,770) for the cancellation, S$600 for settlement, and a further S$500 for interest,” she said.

Chong added that she then paid the amount, but said that her ordeal did not end there.

She told a press conference organised by Johor MCA Public Complaints Bureau committee member Joan Ng Geok Yin at the state MCA office in Danga Bay here on Monday (Aug 21) that she then received a text message on August 3.

Chong said that the message told her that the debt was not settled yet and she would have to pay another S$1,100 or something bad would happen to her parents.

Out of fear, she then turned to another loan shark for help.

The lender “volunteered” to help settle the matter on her behalf on Aug 4, she said.

“The second loan shark agreed to help me and (said he) paid S$2,000 (RM6,854) to the first loan shark. He even showed me a screenshot of the payment he made.

“However, he asked that I (pay him) S$4,800 (RM16,451) for the debt and interest,” she said, adding that she did as she was told.

As of Aug 4, she had made total payments of S$7,000 (RM23,991) to both loan sharks but continued to receive threats, she added.