With the numerous scams going around Singapore, you would think most people here would be on the alert by now.
However, there are still some people who’re unaware of the anti-scam warnings going around, and may be the perfect target for scammers.
Take the Singaporean man who lost S$4,000 to a scammer posing as a police officer — a familiar face if you’ve been reading articles by MS News.
Unfortunately, this dude didn’t read the news often, and fell prey to one of the more well-publicised scams around.
The 23-year-old man, who works as a chef, received a WhatsApp video call in Jan, reported the Shin Min Daily News.
The number started with the prefix “+92” — a major clue that the call is from overseas and might be a scam, if you’ve kept yourself informed. In this case, the country code belongs to Pakistan.
Source: Gilles Lambert on Unsplash
However, the victim picked up the call anyway, and saw a man who was wearing something that resembled a police uniform.
He also wore a mask and spoke good English, claiming to be a police officer from Singapore.
Based on similar accounts of netizens across Singapore, the person on the other end may have looked something like this:
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The victim told Shin Min that he “didn’t think too much”, and thought that since the caller was a police officer, he should do what he was asked.
Thus, he readily give him his IC number and One-Time Password (OTP) — usually used by banks to verify customers’ identity.
Again, those who’ve kept themselves in the loop would know never to give out their personal details, including OTPs, to other people.
The entire conversation lasted just five minutes.
Later, the victim got suspicious and checked his bank account.
However, it was too late, and S$4,000 of his savings were gone — including his bonus.
The scammer did leave behind something for him though: 38 cents.
He then filed a report with the real police.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
According to the victim’s aunt, he doesn’t really go out much.
Besides going to work, he usually stays at home playing games on his phone.
The young man doesn’t read the news much, either.
Thus, he’s not very aware of anti-scam prevention measures.
She shared his story to increase public vigilance, reported Shin Min.
It’s regrettable that despite the repeated warnings of scams by the authorities, some people can still fall through the gaps.
Hence, it bears repeating that one should never disclose personal details to others, and retain a healthy sense of cynicism when contacted by a possible scammer posing as the police.
Even if you don’t follow that, perhaps it would be beneficial to at least keep yourself informed of current events — by reading MS News, for example.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Complaint Singapore on Facebook.
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