A long-distance online relationship took a costly turn for a 59-year-old Singaporean man, who ended up transferring more than S$150,000 — including the full proceeds from the sale of his HDB flat — to a woman he had never met in person.
Mr Chen (not his real name) told Shin Min Daily News that he met a woman named “Huang Ping” on Facebook around mid-2023.
She claimed to be in her 30s, from Hangzhou, divorced, and raising a daughter.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Their conversations quickly grew more intimate, with daily chats and phone calls after work.
“She really cared for me. I didn’t have any doubts about her,” Mr Chen said, adding that they affectionately referred to each other as “husband” and “wife”.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Several months into the relationship, Huang began saying she was facing financial difficulties.
She first asked for a few thousand dollars, saying she needed help with daily expenses.
Believing it was normal for couples to support each other, Mr Chen agreed to help.
“She sometimes called me in tears, saying life was difficult,” he recalled. “I developed real feelings for her and couldn’t bear to say no.”
After exhausting about S$30,000 to S$40,000 of his savings, Huang suggested a more drastic step: that Mr Chen sell his flat in Ang Mo Kio, move to China, and start a new life with her.
The idea appealed to him.
“I was getting older and wanted to settle down. Retiring there sounded like a good plan,” he said.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
And so, Mr Chen returned his three-room flat under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) and received about S$123,000 in compensation.
Over the next year, he transferred the full amount to various bank accounts provided by Huang, with single transactions amounting to as much as S$40,000.
His frequent transfers soon drew the attention of the bank.
Staff had reached out to Mr Chen over a year ago to express concern that he might be a scam victim and advised him to stop sending money.
“I told them I was sure it wasn’t a scam,” he said.
Eventually, the bank imposed a cap, limiting each transfer to S$200, but Mr Chen found ways around this by withdrawing cash and using ATMs to continue sending the funds.
With both his money and flat gone, Mr Chen found himself without a place to stay and turned to a friend for support.
After he recounted what had happened, the friend suspected it was a scam and urged him to file a police report.
Initially, Mr Chen struggled to accept that he had been deceived.
But as the friend pointed out common scam tactics — such as the use of multiple bank accounts — and shared similar cases, Mr Chen gradually came to terms with the truth and filed a police report on 21 July.
The police have confirmed that a report was received and that investigations are ongoing.
Mr Chen added that in April this year, Huang suddenly told him that her grandmother had died and that she would be observing a six-month mourning period, during which she would not be in contact.
He has not heard from her since.
“She also deleted parts of our chat history. That’s when I became even more certain it was a scam,” he said, adding that he now suspects the photos she used may have been stolen.
Despite the financial and emotional toll, Mr Chen is focused on rebuilding his life.
He is currently looking for a job and hopes to rent a place of his own eventually, so he no longer has to rely on his friend for shelter.
“I’m very thankful for the support I’ve received,” he said, noting that he was also involved in a car accident earlier this year. “Surviving that gave me a new perspective.”
“What’s lost is lost,” he continued. “Regret won’t change anything. I may have been blinded by love, but I can still work, and I intend to slowly get back on my feet.”
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.