Singapore student told her mother she was going to college. She actually flew to Cambodia to meet an online gaming friend

The 20-year-old Singaporean student Siti Aishah Siregar, who vanished after telling her family she was headed to college, has been found by Cambodian police. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed her safety, closing out days of anxious searching. But the details now emerging about how she ended up in Phnom Penh have opened a very different story, one involving an online gaming friend, a mystery money transfer, and fears of a scam.

Singapore Student Found Safe, But The Story Just Got Stranger

According to investigations by the Secretariat of Cambodia's Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), reported by the Khmer Times, Aishah arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday. She was not alone for long. Waiting for her at the airport was a Cambodian university student, someone she had never met in person but knew well from hours spent gaming online together.

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She had told him of her travel plans several days in advance. He picked her up and drove her to a condominium in Phnom Penh, a place Aishah had already arranged for herself before she ever left Singapore.

Why She Didn't Tell Her Parents

When questioned by authorities, Aishah told that she left without informing her parents because they exercised very strict control over her, and she believed they never would have allowed the trip. It's a detail that reframes the entire disappearance, not as an abduction, but as a carefully planned escape from a household she found too restrictive.

She Transferred Money To A Stranger Before Leaving Home

Not everything about the story is settled, though. According to CNA, emails uncovered by the family showed Aishah had transferred hundreds of dollars to an unknown person just days before she disappeared.

Her family says they had never seen or spoken to this individual. But her brother noticed something familiar: the name matched an online friend Aishah had been gaming with almost daily for more than a year. He also recalled hearing her call out that same name before.

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That overlap has fuelled concern that Aishah may have been drawn to Cambodia by someone exploiting an online friendship, even as Cambodian investigators, per the Khmer Times report, have ruled out trafficking in her case.

For now, the immediate fear has lifted. Aishah is safe, and she is no longer missing. But the questions around the money transfer, the online friendship, and how easily a 20-year-old was able to leave the country undetected are likely to stay with her family long after the search itself has ended.