Singapore, Sept. 30 -- It had all the qualities of a fairy-tale romance to Cassandra Tan (not her real name): meeting an eligible American-Chinese businessman online and falling in love, with the promise of a happy-ever-after.
But she was just being led down the garden path. Over two years, Ms Tan, a clerk in her 50s, was not only cheated of $80,000 by her online "lover", but she had also been manipulated into being a money mule.
She first met the man on Facebook in mid-2018. He claimed to be a 59-year-old American-Chinese businessman working for "Keppel" and doing so overseas.
He proceeded to spin tales, claiming, among other things, that his money had been "taken by the CIA", and that he and his staff were "trapped at Customs and ne...