Keeping track of one’s bank transactions is a good habit to have. However, it’s undeniably a cumbersome task for many — especially if you mostly make small day-to-day transactions.
Unfortunately for one woman, she got the shock of her life when she found only $7 left in her bank account.
A PayPal scammer had been making withdrawals to the account, unbeknownst to the poor lady.
The act came to light when she tried making a cash withdrawal from the ATM but was unable to due to the lack of funds in her account.
In a Facebook post by Xin Yu (馨予) in the group Let’s Go Singapore (走，新加坡) on Thursday (1 Apr), the lady shared her recent encounter with a PayPal scam that left her with only $7 in her account.
As the post is in Chinese, we’ve summarised her account of the incident in English below.
According to the lady, she attempted to make an ATM withdrawal but was unable to do so due to a lack of funds in her account.
Upon further inspection, she realised she only had $7 left in her account. The minimum withdrawal amount for POSB ATMs is $20.
After checking her bank transactions through the POSB application, multiple accounts of fraudulent withdrawals was discovered through a user that went by ‘SONIAHERNAN’ via PayPal.
Startled, she called the bank for assistance. Thankfully, the cumulative amount stolen from her was eventually returned safe and sound.
However, this proved to be a tumultuous event for her. Not only was her rent due, but it required 5 days to claim back the funds she lost unwittingly.
Fortunately, the lady mentioned that there was only $189 in the account, and her pay wasn’t due for a couple of days more.
Hence, the scammer was unable to acquire more money than they in fact could have.
Through this experience, the woman advised people against answering calls from unknown numbers. Also, clicking on suspicious links should be avoided too.
Although the woman did not willingly put herself in a vulnerable situation, it doesn’t hurt to be more cautious when it comes to online scams.
According to the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, a local number with a ‘+’ prefix is typically a good indicator of what constitutes a scam call. For more information, click here.
In addition, here are more methods of identifying scams by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
One takeaway from this unfortunate incident is that we should make a good habit of checking our bank statements thoroughly.
Cross-checking your transactions to your bank statements may be a chore, but you really never know if funds are being deducted from your account without your knowledge.
Some banks may inform you if there are suspicious transactions, but it’s good to check periodically regardless.
Lastly, do take preventative measures to protect yourself from falling prey to online scams, as they are becoming more commonplace in this digital age.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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