Despite there being many guides and PSAs nowadays on how to prevent being scammed, many still fall victim to these tricksters and end up losing their fortune. Fashion designer Rizman Ruzaini almost lost millions to a scam by Naomi Campbell’s agency but thankfully, they were able to handle the situation.
Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said about national badminton player Lai Pei Jing (赖沛君) who was fooled into an investment scam which cost her much of her savings. In an emotional Instagram post shared over the long weekend, Pei Jing thanked her friends and relatives for their concerns and explained more details about the scam that happened.
“Yes, I was scammed out of almost all of my savings by a fraud group. My hard-earned savings from decades of hard work. Whenever my mind is idle, I naturally replay the entire scam and fall to a state of blaming myself for my foolishness and kindness,” she said. While she did not specify the amount she had lost, according to Badminton Planet, it was believed to be approximately RM400k.
The national athlete added that she’s been cooperating with the authorities over the past few days after reporting the crime at the Seri Kembangan police station and hopes for the best possible outcome. The 31-year-old ended the post by saying that she’ll still need time to process the incident and that she’ll share more details about the fraud group to prevent anyone else from falling victim to their tricks.
Fans and fellow athletes sympathised with Pei Jing and offered words of comfort and encouragement in the comments section saying that she shouldn’t be too hard on herself over what happened. According to Berita Harian, even Sports and Youth Minister Hannah Yeoh extended her sympathy towards the young badminton player saying, “We are in touch with her to obtain further information. I want to know more so that we can determine how to assist her”.
During a (now-deleted) Facebook livestream, former world men’s double No. 1 Tan Boon Heong (陈文宏) said that he resonated with Pei Jing’s story and recalled the time he lost RM2.5 million to a scam back in 2017. However, it was reported that some fans were sceptical about the authenticity of his story.
Responding to the scepticism, the 36-year-old clarified that his intention of sharing the story was to warn others to be wary of scammers. Regardless, let his and Lai Pei Jing’s story be a reminder to us all to be more careful when giving out our personal information without proper verifications.
