A social media user has shared her frustration and heartbreak after claiming her mother repeatedly fell victim to online scams, allegedly losing tens of thousands of ringgit over time.
The emotional confession was posted on Threads by user @jagungcheese87, who admitted she no longer knew how to stop her mother from trusting strangers online.
“Please take time to check your parents’ phones regularly. I was shocked when I found out my own mother got scammed, but honestly, I’m exhausted because this keeps happening again and again,” she wrote.
According to her, her mother sometimes stayed with family members but would occasionally insist on living alone at her village home, making it difficult to monitor her activities.
“She always has her phone with her. Before this, we removed her from all WhatsApp groups and even confronted the scammers ourselves. For a while things seemed okay, but I didn’t realise it had become even worse,” she said.
Several screenshots of WhatsApp conversations shared online allegedly showed scammers using various tactics involving fake prizes, insurance payments and financial aid schemes to manipulate victims into transferring money.
The woman claimed her mother had even borrowed money from acquaintances to fulfil the scammers’ demands.
“If we calculate all the money she lost over the years, it could already be tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. If she hadn’t been scammed, she could’ve been wealthy by now,” she lamented.
She also revealed that her mother refused to believe family members despite repeated warnings about online scam tactics.
“When I tried explaining things to her, she wouldn’t believe me. She once proudly told me she paid RM100 to ‘join a queue’ because she was promised RM1 million later,” she added.
The viral post quickly sparked discussion online, with many netizens sharing similar experiences involving parents becoming victims of online scams, including love scams, fake gold sales and non-existent prize offers.
One user, identified as @okestrabunian, claimed her mother lost RM3,000 after falling victim to a love scam following retirement.
“Before this, she always knew about scam tactics and wondered how people could get tricked. But after retiring and spending more time alone at home while using TikTok, she lost her savings too,” the user shared.
She added that the scammer eventually disappeared once her mother no longer had money left to send.
Meanwhile, some social media users suggested bringing elderly victims to meet police officers or authorities directly, believing stern warnings from officials may be more effective.
“One of the best ways is bringing them to the police station. It may sound childish, but sometimes hearing it directly from police officers is the only thing that works,” another user commented.
The incident has once again raised concerns about the growing number of elderly individuals falling prey to increasingly sophisticated online scam syndicates targeting vulnerable victims through social media and messaging platforms.
