KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian mixed doubles shuttler Lai Pei Jing has fallen victim to a scam syndicate.
On Sunday, the 31-year-old took to social media to share the unfortunate incident and asked for personal space to process her thoughts and emotions.
"First of all, to my relatives and friends who see this post, whether you are curious or concerned, please give my family and me some private space to deal with our emotions.
"Please give us time to process everything, especially my mum. Thank you.
"Yes, I was scammed of almost all my savings by a fraud group.
"Honestly, this has been an extremely heavy blow to me. My hard-earned savings from decades of hard work.
"It takes great courage to speak out about being scammed because who wants to tell others that they were foolishly deceived, right?
"Once I've adjusted to the situation, I'll share more about it. I hope to prevent more victims and also force myself to accept the fact that I was scammed," read part of the former national shuttler's post.
Pei Jing, who makes up the world No. 23 pairing with Tan Kian Meng, also explained that she is already working closely with the local authorities.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing competed in the recently concluded Singapore Open, where they lost in the second round to the Netherlands' Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek.
It remains to be seen if the duo will compete in this week's Super 1000 Indonesia Open, where they are scheduled to face Algeria's Koceila Mammeri-Tanina Violette Mammeri in the first round.