The unemployed man and his fiancée watched the TV show “Crime Watch” and decided to commit crimes and set up a scam on the Internet. Over $9,400 was lost and he was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
From September 2018 to March 2019, the police received at least 24 reports that someone had sold game consoles, photographic equipment, etc. through the online shopping platform Carousell, but the victim did not receive the goods after payment, involving an amount of about $7567.
The investigation revealed that the scam involved an unmarried couple. The two operated a total of 4 bank accounts and used 3 bank accounts to accept payment. Among them, the female defendant Suhirawati (30 years old) was sentenced to 8 months in jail last December.
The male defendant was 30-year-old Hadi. Who was unemployed at the time he committed the crime. He faced 33 counts of cheating.
The case shows that the two were in urgent need of living expenses. After watching the crime investigation program “Crimewatch” (Crimewatch), they decided to create an account on online platforms to advertise products, and wait for the buyers to contact him. He will ask the other party to transfer the money to his bank account.
The case shows that the defendant was arrested on March 1 last year and charged in court but was released on bail on the 7 March 2019. The fiancee lied to the authorities and claimed that she was in the hospital because of illness, she lied in order to evade the investigation but she was eventually arrested.
From September 13 to November 2 2019, the police received seven reports one after another, alleging that someone had used similar tactics to scam.
After investigation, it was found that the defendant had done the case again during bail.
According to court evidence, the accused scammed $9454 from 33 victims in total, and only $299 was recovered.