A factory supervisor lost RM45,000 (S$18,396) after falling for a man she met on an online chat room.

The 40-year-old woman paid the money to obtain a parcel purportedly containing US$2 million (S$2.7 million), which the 46-year-old man, who claimed to be from Britain, had sent her as a "token of love".

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said he had received five cases this year of victims being duped by online friends.

He believed the scam involved the same syndicate.

Losses incurred by the victims stand at RM102,000.

In the latest case, the victim only known as Lim, befriended a man who claimed to be from Britain.

"They met once and eventually became a couple. They continued chatting until August and the man said he was sending her a parcel purportedly containing US$2 million as a sign of love.

"On Aug 12, Lim received a call from a woman, claiming to be a Customs officer, saying the parcel was being held at the department's cargo centre," said Chong.

The woman asked Lim to bank in RM5,000 to enable the release of the parcel.

Not suspecting anything amiss, Lim banked in RM3,000 into the bank account of a local man.

Soon afterwards, the victim received a call from a man who claimed to be a bank officer in Britain, asking her to pay RM42,000 to secure the release of the parcel as it contained a huge amount of cash.

On Nov 17, the woman who claimed to be a Customs officer contacted Lim again and said both of them had been cheated by the bank officer in Britain.

She asked Lim to bank in another RM15,000 so that she could help release the parcel and get Lim's RM42,000 back.

Lim became suspicious and sought Chong's help.

Chong said Lim had yet to lodge a police report as she still believed she could get the parcel.

He said of the five cases he received this year, three involved women and two men.

The loss of cash only involved the women.