Over the years, scammers have come up with new and increasingly inventive ways to trick people into giving up their hard-earned cash.
On several occasions, they may even target their victims in the comfort of their own homes.
This was the case recently when a man approached a woman at her apartment asking for assistance with hospital bills.
She later realised it was a scam and took to TikTok to warn her followers.
TikTok user @sunnylimsl aka Sunny Lim shared a video on Sunday (27 Aug) detailing her ordeal, which occurred on 18 Aug at about 2.30pm.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
She shared that she was working from home alone when she heard the doorbell ring.
Answering it, Ms Lim found a man standing outside her door. He said he was her neighbour living on the fourth floor in unit number 23.
He went on to tell her that his mother had passed away that morning and he needed help with paying off the hospital bills to retrieve the body.
The man added that he had been asking other neighbours for assistance.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
“I was very taken aback,” Ms Lim said.
Speaking to MS News, she noted that the man looked to be in his 50s to 60s and was “really worn out.”
His attire consisted of a shirt with short sleeves, a loose inner tank top riddled with holes, a pair of threadbare bermudas, and slippers.
The man then went on to take out a wad of cash comprising S$2, S$5, and S$10 notes.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
“He said, ‘All the neighbours are so kind, they gave me a little bit of money here and there,'” Ms Lim recalled.
Seeing this, Ms Lim decided to do her part as well, going back to check if she had some small change.
Finding S$10, she returned to the door — only to find the man plucking two of her mother’s pomegranates.
When confronted, he explained that he took the fruits for “good luck” and accepted the money from Ms Lim.
Ms Lim then said that she discussed the situation with her mother later that day, and they decided to go to the fourth level to visit the man’s unit.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
Once they were there, they saw a woman exit the flat, as Ms Lim explained in a follow-up video.
Ms Lim’s mother asked her if she lived there, to which she replied in the affirmative.
When informed of the full situation, the woman clarified that there was no such man in her unit, with the only occupants being her and her parents.
“The three of us were just so confused,” Ms Lim shared. “My mum was like, ‘I think it’s just a scam.'”
Ms Lim noted that at the time of the incident, she did wonder if it was a scam as she had never seen the man before.
However, she considered the possibility that perhaps he had been in the area when she wasn’t.
In addition, he seemed to be in dire need of assistance, making her sympathetic to his cause.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
“I was like… I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt,” she said.
Ms Lim also told MS News that the man had asked her neighbours from two other units for money as well.
She ultimately chose not to file a police report as the loss was a negligible sum and the man could have been in desperate need of the money.
Even so, Ms Lim took the opportunity to warn her followers against falling victim to similar tricks.
Source: @sunnylimsl on TikTok
“If somebody comes to your door and tells you this story . . . [and] if you don’t know that person, perhaps it’s really not your neighbour,” she cautioned.
Also read: S’pore Security Guard Loses S$155K In Telegram Job Scam, Scammers Taunt Him Over Police Report
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Featured image adapted from @sunnylimsl on TikTok.
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