AN unemployed man was jailed 21 months on Monday for cheating victims of their money after posing on the MSN Messenger chatroom as a girl in urgent need of money.

Shawn Goh Eng Hwee, 28, who pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of cheating involving $4,100, was also fined $2,000 for having an obscene film at his Jurong West home on April 28, 2005.

Between 2005 and this year, he conspired with his friend, Loke Chern Meng, also 28, to deceive victims into believing that he was either Cindy Xiao Xue, Cindy Tan, Joey Tay or Winnie who desperately needed money to pay rent.

A district court heard that it was Goh who had suggested that they make "quick money'' by deceiving victims into transferring money into a bank account, when Loke told him that he was in dire straits in 2005.

Loke is now serving 18 months in prison for his role in the cheating offences.

He agreed to let Goh use his POSBank bank account and that of his girlfriend's as well, but the 19-year-old did not know about his intention to cheat.

Posing as "Cindy'', Goh would tell most of his victims that she would be evicted if she did not pay her house rent immediately. Once, he even told a victim that she needed money to pay for her mother's funeral.

Loke would withdraw the money from the accounts and share it with Goh.

Thirty-four other similar charges involving $12,280 were taken into consideration.