In recent months, a number of Singapore residents have fallen victim to scams after stumbling across suspicious advertisements on social media.
The latest case involves a woman who lost S$110,000 after coming across a Facebook advertisement for a durian tour in Kulai, Malaysia.
In the process of buying tickets, she somehow got her phone infected with malware.
This allowed the scammers to siphon S$110,000 from her bank accounts.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, 52-year-old Ms Lie shared that she came across the durian tour Facebook advertisement on 10 Sep.
The ad was reportedly posted by a Facebook page named ‘GD Travel & Tour’. The page is still live at the time of this article.
Source: GD Travel & Tour on Facebook
Having been on a similar durian tour before, Ms Lie decided to click on the advertisement to enquire what it was about.
The seller subsequently contacted her through WhatsApp, instructing her to install an app for more details.
Ms Lie recalled that the seller spoke with a heavy Malaysian accent. However, she wasn’t suspicious about the interaction as the seller did not ask for any personal details.
Even after installing the app, Ms Lie said her phone was operating normally.
Later, Ms Lie’s friends informed her that they couldn’t make it for the tour and she stopped contacting the seller.
About a week later on 18 Sep, Ms Lie tried logging into her Internet banking app but could not do so even after multiple attempts.
She then got her son to contact the bank. That’s when they discovered that the funds in her account had been wiped clean.
In total, the scammers transferred S$110,000 from Ms Lie’s two DBS savings accounts to five different bank accounts.
Ms Lie told The Straits Times (ST) that she had accumulated the amount from three decades of hard work.
It was meant for her retirement and her son’s upcoming wedding.
Despite the large sums involved, Ms Lie claimed she did not receive any emails or text notifications.
Following the incident, she reportedly deleted all the banking apps on her phone, claiming she felt “scared”.
She has also contacted DBS and Jalan Besar GRC MP Wan Rizal for assistance.
In response to Shin Min Daily News’ queries, the police confirmed that they were aware of the incident. Investigations are currently ongoing.
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Featured image adapted from freestocks on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only, and GD Travel & Tour on Facebook.
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