Elderly man says ‘woman’ who claimed she wanted to visit S’pore scammed him
An elderly man in Singapore said a “woman” he met over the internet scammed him of more than S$10,000.
68-year-old Mr Huang (transliterated from Mandarin) told Shin Min Daily News that the “woman” had claimed that she wanted to visit Singapore.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
‘Woman’ adds elderly man on Facebook
In August, a user named “Li Xin” from China added him as a friend on Facebook, Mr Huang said.
They started chatting on WhatsApp, and about a week later, she told him she wanted to visit Singapore to see him and spend time together.
She claimed authorities barred her from entering because she had committed a crime here and that she needed to apply for a permit to return.
Subsequently, a man who claimed to be a Chinese government official called the elderly man and identified himself as “Section Chief Wang.”
The caller told him to pay a deposit and handling fees to arrange for “Li Xin” to leave the country.
Elderly man makes several cash transfers so woman can come to S’pore
Eager to meet the attractive woman, Mr Huang made several cash transfers into a designated account.
However, “Li Xin” claimed officials did not allow her to leave China because she carried too much jewellery.
A few days later, she claimed she genuinely wanted to befriend Mr Huang, prompting him to transfer thousands of dollars to help her apply for a “permit” to enter Singapore.
Finally, she told him she was on the way to Singapore, sending him a photo of an aeroplane cabin to prove this.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
However, after she allegedly arrived in Singapore, she claimed that customs officers detained her for carrying an excessive amount of cash.
This meant that Mr Huang had to fork out S$1,000 again to “secure her release”.
Woman claimed to have met with car accident
Later, “Li Xin” hit another snag — she had allegedly met with a car accident after leaving the airport.
She claimed a hospital had admitted her but refused to reveal which one.
When Mr Huang finally grew suspicious, he questioned her about it, but he only angered her.
She then demanded that he transfer S$600 for her medical expenses and another S$600 as an “apology fee”.
After he did this, they made an appointment to meet but she failed to show up, blaming traffic jams.
The following day, she claimed to have gone to Malaysia and would meet them after she returned, then ghosted him.
This finally caused the elderly man to give up after sending her more than S$10,000.
Elderly man made police report after realising woman scammed him
Mr Huang realised he was scammed during a second call from “Section Chief Wang”.
The caller told him that “Li Xin” was uncontactable because she had lost her phone in Malaysia.
The elderly man figured that if she had indeed lost her phone, how did she manage to call “Section Chief Wang”, he said, adding:
Did she think I was stupid?
After seeing the light, he made a police report about the scam.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Elderly man’s family furious that woman scammed him
Besides losing a large amount of cash, Mr Huang said his family was furious that he had fallen for a scam.
His son has restricted his access to his bank account, preventing him from withdrawing money freely.
He now has to explain every cent to his son when he wants to spend money, he added.
By sharing his story with the media, he hopes to warn others and prevent more people from such scams.
Also read: Elderly man in S’pore scammed of S$55.5K by ‘woman’ he met on TikTok, still believes she’s real
Elderly man in S’pore scammed of S$55.5K by ‘woman’ he met on TikTok, still believes she’s real
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
