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It didn't take long for Lian O'Grady to think he was being lured into a scam.
Mr O'Grady, who lives on the NSW Central Coast, met a woman on a dating app in early July.
The woman's name was simply "P" on the app, but he later found out her name was Putry.
On just their second date, Mr O'Grady said she pitched the idea of investing together in a Balinese villa they could rent out.
She said: "You pay up-front, and then you have a five-year sublease."
Mr O'Grady said he was immediately suspicious of the subleasing scheme.
It was made to appear like he would be able to make money by leasing the property out to others for five years, while only paying a year of rent himself.
"It seems like it's a lot of money for them [the owners] to be giving up, and she's like, 'Oh, they're a bit stupid, and they like money up-front.'
"That sounds like the dumbest reason the world's ever produced for why you would give up money."
But Mr O'Grady said Putry kept trying to convince him to invest.
"I'd met her for not even five hours [in total] and she said, 'Let's invest in something'.
"Thousands of dollars … I think nobody in their right mind is going to invest money with a stranger they've barely even met.
"She even suggested to me that we couldn't be in a relationship because we couldn't have financial security unless we invested in these things."
Mr O'Grady said he thought it was a scam from the start but went along with it "just to see how far" it would go.
He said he told a friend "it had to be" a scam and "within an hour" his friend sent him a previous news article published by the ABC about an alleged Balinese villa investment scam.
"It was her face, and it was her name and everything."
He then reported Putry to Woy Woy police.
"I showed them the article … I said look, this is the exact contract that's in this article."
As reported in that story, NSW Police emailed a group of alleged victims in 2021 saying that authorities would arrest Putry if she returned to Australia, in response to a separate luxury handbag fraud case.
Mr O'Grady said he showed police their earlier comments.
"Here's your [previous] statement from NSW Police saying you'd arrest her.
"I sent them all the screenshots … and her suggestions we [invest in the] villas and everything."
From luxury handbags to Balinese villas
The name Putry Thornhill emerged about four years ago, on Facebook groups created by alleged victims of luxury handbag scams, as reported by ABC Indonesia in 2020.
Most who reported the scam were Indonesian citizens living in NSW.
In 2021, NSW Police opened an investigation into Putry over the trading of counterfeit designer handbags, but the group of alleged victims were told she had already returned to Indonesia.
Two-and-half years later, the 29-year-old, whose legal name is Prima Putri Ratnasari, returned to Australia.
And in late July she was arrested and charged with five counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
The Indonesian citizen pleaded guilty, and last week was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order.
The magistrate, Justin Peach, also ordered the woman to pay compensation to victims of the handbag fraud.
Mr O'Grady told the ABC he was concerned the fraudulent activity would continue.
"If you're going to serve in the community, you should serve a lot more than 18 months, as far as I'm concerned," he said.
"Because all you're doing is just living a life and as long as you don't scam somebody, you're free to do it all again in 18 months' time."
When contacted by the ABC, the Home Affairs department refused to discuss the implications of the court ruling on Putry's Australian visa, saying it does not comment on individual cases.
But the department noted that Section 501 of the Migration Act enabled the government "to refuse to grant, or to cancel, a visa on the basis that the person does not pass the character test".
"A person may not pass the character test on a number of grounds, including but not limited to, if they have a substantial criminal record, or where their conduct represents a risk to the Australian community," the department said.
Other alleged victims not satisfied
Five people have spoken to the ABC, alleging that they are victims of a separate Balinese villa investment scam that was run by Putry.
Alana Cayless is one of them.
"She has been arrested and charged with the 2020 handbag scams and not the $40,000 villas," Ms Cayless said.
"This sentence will not stop Putry from scamming."
Ms Cayless said Putry was a "repeat offender" who would "continue to scam until she is jailed".
She urged any alleged victims to lodge a police report in the correct jurisdiction.
"The Australian police can't do much regarding the scams committed in Bali."
But she said they were "putting a case together of all Bali victims that come forward" to pass on to either the Australian Federal Police or Indonesian police.
Brazilian Bruno Rodrigo do Carmo Brandao also says he lost US$35,000 ($51,000) to the alleged villa scam.
He said he did not have the financial capability to return to Bali and report the incident to authorities.
Mr Brandao said he met Putry when he was working as a jujitsu coach in Indonesia two years ago.
She was one of his best students and they later became close.
The jujitsu coach said Putry invited him to invest in a villa in Bali together, which prompted him to get a loan.
"At the time my family needed me, my mum was at the hospital. And then I got the loan, I sent the money to her. Then she just disappeared."
Mr Brandao said he spoke to Putry first instead of police because he couldn't believe what had happened.
"I was trying to understand. I contacted her and she said, 'Ah, baby, no way, I wouldn't do that to you'."
But Putry soon went silent when he asked about her whereabouts.
"To be honest, I just want my money back," he said.
"I've been asking for money from my friends to survive. I can't help my family anymore."
Mr Brandao said he was underwhelmed by the non-custodial sentence for the handbag fraud.
"She needs to learn, otherwise she will keep doing the same," Mr Brandao said.
"I totally trusted her [with] all my life, all my heart and then she just destroyed my family, my dreams, my life."
Putry continues to deny any allegations of criminality in relation to the Balinese villa investment scheme.
She previously told the ABC she had been communicating with those who gave her money and had made agreements to return it.
The ABC understands that several Australians who say they are victims of villa investment scams have sent letters to the Australian consulate in Bali and to the Department of Home Affairs.
The alleged victims told the ABC they hoped that Putry would be deported to face the allegations of fraud committed in Indonesia.
Although it has limited jurisdiction over direct property investment, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has advice on its Moneysmart website about investing in real estate overseas.
DFAT also provides advice on scams that can target Australians when they are travelling, and what they can do if they are hoodwinked while abroad.
