Dec 22, 2010
PHONE CARD SCAM
Indonesian maids new target
By Elizabeth Soh
Con men ask their victims to buy phone cards which they then use to make overseas calls or re sell them. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
CON men behind phone lottery scams aimed at cash-strapped Indonesian maids in Singapore have found a new way to fleece their targets.
Previously, they posed as employees of established companies in Malaysia and Indonesia and sent texts congratulating the maids on winning the lottery.
The victims were then asked to transfer money to these supposed companies' bank accounts as 'administration' fees before the winnings could be released. However, since February, the con men have changed tack.
Instead of asking victims for the fees, they now ask them to buy phone cards sold here but usable only in Indonesia, and then reveal the cards' PIN, or personal identification numbers.
With these numbers, the con men can access the cards' stored value. They can either use them to make telephone calls or resell them. The most common denomination is 50,000 rupiah (S$7).
Police say the fraudsters' new method surfaced in August.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
