He befriended four women over popular dating app Tinder and persuaded them into parting with $33,500 without even having to meet them in person.

With his tall tales of having lost his wallet or luggage while on a business trip in Japan, Eng How Khiang lied that he needed money for work and living expenses.

But the 44-year-old stopped contacting his possible dating partners after they transferred cash to him via his wife’s bank account. He didn’t travel to Japan as he had claimed.

At the State Courts on Friday (22 February), Eng was jailed for 19 months after he pleaded guilty to eight cheating charges involving four victims aged 22 to 27.

In late February 2017, Eng befriended a 25-year-old victim on Tinder and they continued conversing on the Telegram app. He used the pseudonym “Aaron Chong Kangen”.

Eng later told her he was in Japan on a business trip and had lost his wallet. He asked her for money and she fell for his ruse, transferring between $2,500 and $3,000 on seven occasions in March 2017.

He got a total of $18,900 from the victim before becoming uncontactable.

In July 2017, the conman used the pseudonym “Leo” to befriend two 27-year-old women on the dating app before conversing with them on WeChat.

He similarly told one of the women that he had lost his wallet in Japan, and she transferred him $300. He told the other woman that he had lost his luggage and was hospitalised in Japan with a bacterial infection. She transferred him $400.

In August 2017, this time under the guise of “Leo Chen Wei Xiang”, Eng befriended a 22-year-old woman on Tinder. He used the same ruse as before and lied that he had lost his wallet in Japan. She transferred him $500.

Similarly, he stopped contact with the other victims after getting the money.

For each of his cheating charges, Eng could have been jailed for up to 10 years and also fined.

Other Singapore stories:

SAF appoints BG Tan Chee Wee as first Inspector General to oversee training safety

Merlion statue to undergo first restorative works since 2015

JB port limits issue ‘can be resolved in the near future’: Malaysian foreign minister

Remisier wife fails to divorce taxi driver husband on grounds of unreasonable behaviour

Prosecution seeks 5 years’ jail for man who cheated 6 women of nearly $440,000