Scams have become increasingly sophisticated in the last few years, and have even managed to hoodwink people across nations.
A scammer believed to be in China tricked a man in Singapore into recording a video of himself being “kidnapped”.
The video was sent to his family back home, convincing them to hand over thousands of dollars in cash.
The scammers was even bold enough to pose as an officer from Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
In a media statement on Monday (31 Jan), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) recounted the almost-unbelievable story.
In Nov 2021, the 21-year-old victim received an unsolicited call.
The person on the other side of the line purportedly identified himself as an MOH officer.
Source
The victim was then redirected to other people claiming to be police officers from China.
The scammers had purportedly told the man that he was involved in money laundering offences in China.
They also sent fake “official-looking” documents to his handphone, wanting his cooperation to assist in their investigations.
The scammers also allegedly threatened him.
A scammer then told the victim to isolate himself in a hotel room.
There, he was made to record videos of himself, placing his hands behind his back like he was tied up.
This was in order to convince his family that he had been kidnapped.
The victim’s family, who were based in China, got the videos.
They also received ransom demands from a mysterious person with a Fujian accent.
He said their son was with him and wanted cash for his release.
He also said the victim had “slept with his woman” and he “didn’t want to hurt him”.
However, he threatened that they wouldn’t see their son again if they called the police.
Subsequently, the victim’s parent transferred money to the scammers.
The victim himself also sent money to them.
In total, more than $560,000 was transferred to bank accounts provided by the scammer by the victim and his parent.
They did this on several occasions between 22 Dec-24 Jan.
On 28 Jan, the police were finally notified over the alleged “kidnapping”.
Officers from the Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) sprang into action.
They mounted an “extensive search operation and investigations” and eventually located the victim within just 8 hours.
He was found safe and sound in a hotel at about 9.30am on that day.
The SPF took the chance to advise the public not to fall for such scams, saying that overseas law enforcement agencies don’t have jurisdiction in Singapore.
Thus, without approval of the Singapore Government, they can’t conduct operations, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with investigations.
Also, no Singapore government agency will tell people to make payment via phone calls or social messaging platforms like WeChat or Facebook. Neither will they ask for personal banking information.
And you definitely shouldn’t give our personal info over the phone or Internet, and transfer funds to dubious people.
Thus, if you receive unsolicited calls, especially from overseas, you shouldn’t follow the caller’s instructions and should just ignore the call.
If in doubt, you’re advised to call a trusted friend or relative, or check with SPF directly. Foreign residents can also verify with their embassy.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the 1st time that scammers have posed as government officials to try to dupe people.
These scams will only get more prevalent and advanced, so it’s best to step up our vigilance and advise vulnerable loved ones to do so too.
Ultimately, the onus is on ourselves to ensure scammers are thwarted at every turn.
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Featured images adapted from Singapore Police Force.
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