M’sian Tried to Cheat RM3k from Aussie Parents Looking for Lost Phone with Late Daughter’s Photos

Taking advantage of people going through their toughest time is a despicable thing to do. And this Malaysian lady was charged in an Australian court for that.

According to News.com.au, 24-year-old Malaysian Siti Nurhidayah allegedly demanded AU$1,000 (about RM2,913) from Australian couple Jay and Dee Windross for a phone that they lost. The Samsung Galaxy S8 contained photos of their 11-month-old baby, Amiyah Windross, who died five days after the phone went missing.

The Windross couple recalled leaving their phone in the toilets of Chadstone Shopping Centre on April 20. They sent out a desperate plea to ask the members of the public to return the phone if anyone has come to it but father Jay Windross received a blackmail call from Nurhidayah, demanding money to be “deposited into their account for the return of the phone.”

In an interview with 9News Australia on Monday (Apr 29), mother Dee Windross appeared teary when she walked out of the Ringwood Magistrates Court in Melbourne, where she saw Nurhidayah face-to-face for first time.

“It is despicable. It is disgusting.

“Why would anyone do that? And she knew the position we were in (which) you tell by her messages,” said Dee.

The 24 year old has only been living in Aus since last Sept. She’d been working as an Uber Eats delivery cyclist. Her lawyer is arguing she isn’t a flight risk, despite having 2 young kids at home in Malaysia. pic.twitter.com/SThglH8PMD

— Annie Kearney (@anniemaykearney) April 29, 2019

Nurhidayah was reportedly crying in the courtroom when she was charged for blackmailing. She was arrested in front of her husband at their Springvale sharehouse.

It is learned that Nurhidayah has never had the phone. She allegedly pretended to possess the phone in order to swindle money out of the grieving parents. Nurhidayah’s husband told 9News Australia that he did not know his wife committed the blackmail and repeatedly said sorry on his wife’s behalf.

Nurhidayah moved to Australia last September and she worked as an Uber Eats delivery cyclist, The Star reported. She was denied for bail as the magistrate said that she was a potential flight risk. The suspect has two children in Malaysia.

As of now, the Windross couple still has not found the phone filled with videos and photos of their late baby. The couple had tried “multiple ways of backups to retrieve the photos, none have worked.”

Amiyah spent 200 days of her 330-day life in the hospital, which the doctors found something was not quite right soon after she was born. She suffered from an undiagnosed neurological disorder and passed away last Wednesday (April 24).

“All the photos of (Amiyah) during the day, doing things, it’s all on Dee’s phone.

“We can get another phone, but it is not about that. It’s all about the photos.

“We beg you as grieving parents not to wipe the phone,” said the father.

Dee said on social media that she has received messages from people who falsely reported to have found the phone and she has yet to find the real one.

“I have not had my phone handed back and am still looking for it and the memories it holds,” the mother wrote on a social media post last week.

You can watch the video of the interview on the next page.