SG is financial loss/fraud/scam hub. Huat ah!

#1

At least 70 police reports filed against Singaporean-run crypto trading platform Torque

Torque is run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong.

Torque is run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong.
PHOTOS: TORQUESUPERWALLET.ASIA, YOUTUBE
joycelim.png

Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

MAR 24, 2021

SINGAPORE - At least 70 police reports were lodged against online cryptocurrency trading platform Torque, run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong, with investors claiming millions lost in cryptocurrencies.

Three days before the Chinese New Year holidays last month, retail investors were told that one of Torque's employees had apparently violated the company's rules and that his unauthorised trading activities had led to significant losses in their trading accounts.

In a letter to investors, Torque Group Holdings, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and owns the cryptocurrency trading platform, told investors that their accounts had been suspended to prevent further losses. Once the investigations were concluded, investors would be able to withdraw their remaining balances and have the option to close their accounts or resume trading on the platform, said Torque's chief executive Bernard Ong.

But Mr Ong subsequently applied to the BVI Courts to wind up the company.

The application was granted last week (Mar 18) and Mr Philip Smith and Mr Jason Kardachi from restructuring and insolvency specialist firm Borrelli Walsh were appointed as joint liquidators.

A preliminary review of Torque's record and investor database by Borrelli Walsh estimated creditor claims at US$325 million (S$436 million) as at March 2 (2021), while crypto assets under the control of the liquidators are valued at about US$9.1 million (S$12 million) as of Mar 14.

Mr Smith told The Straits Times that investigations were still at an early stage and he is unable to confirm yet how many of Torque's more than 14,000 investors from more than 120 countries, reside in Singapore.

Mr Ong, 33, chief executive of Torque, told ST that he has filed a police report in Singapore against the employee who, he alleges, is responsible for the losses. He said that the employee is not based in Singapore and has not been contactable.

Police confirmed reports were lodged by both Mr Ong and investors and said that they are looking into the matter.

Mr Ong said that Torque, which was incorporated in 2019, has about 80 employees based in Vietnam and Singapore, of which 20 are Singaporeans.

"The cost is too high to run a 24-hour operation in Singapore. And the reason why I registered my company in BVI is because it does not have a regulatory framework towards cryptocurrency. I wanted a place that is more friendly towards crypto space," said Mr Ong.

A search on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority portal showed that Mr Ong is the director and shareholder of 12 companies in Singapore.

Mr Ong said: "Borrelli Walsh has taken over (the company). I am no longer in power of the company. I know that investors are frustrated and angry. As a company, we are doing all we can to help anyone and I am ready to cooperate with any authority."

In an email to ST, Mr Ong's lawyer Sarbrinder Singh of Sanders Law said the purpose of engaging Borrelli Walsh was "to trace and locate the misappropriated funds" by the employee in question, "so that the losses to Torque would be minimised".

Mr Singh added that Mr Ong has been harassed by debt collectors demanding payments for which he is not liable. He is also aware of a potential class action against Mr Ong by a group of investors.

One investor, who has 350 accounts with Torque said he was attracted to Torque's reward scheme which could reward an investor between 0.15 and 0.45 per cent of the amount traded in a day.

The investor who wanted to be known as only Mr Lim, said he opened his first account with Torque in January last year(2020) and invested US$50,000 (S$67,000) in cryptocurrency. In the past one year, he has traded a total of US$350,000 (S$470,000) in cryptocurrency with Torque.

He claimed that at one point he was getting daily rewards of about US$2,000.

The self-employed man, who is in his 30s, said he will wait for the liquidators to conclude their investigations and hoped that he could eventually withdraw his remaining balance of some US$800,000 (S$1.07 million) from his Torque account.
A lot these scams are Tiong or Jiuhu or Ceca masterminds with a lot sinki run legs
 

Jail for ex-insurance agent who cheated victim of over $543k in fictitious investment scheme​

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Shaffiq Alkhatib

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Dec 09, 2024


SINGAPORE - A former insurance agent who duped a man into transferring more than $543,000 to him over 35 occasions from March 2018 to March 2019 was sentenced to two years and eight months’ jail on Dec 9.

Andrew Tiew Siew Ing, 44, who had managed to convince the victim to take part in an “investment opportunity” that did not exist, pleaded guilty to two cheating charges and an unrelated assault charge on Nov 25.

Four more cheating charges were considered during his sentencing.

Tiew, whose employment with an insurance firm was terminated in May 2018, has since made more than $16,000 in restitution to the 44-year-old victim.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Da Zhuan said the scammer was working as a bank relationship manager when he got to know the victim’s mother, who became his customer.

Tiew later joined an insurance firm, and he told the woman’s son in January 2018 about an “investment scheme” linked to insurance policies.

Tiew claimed that he was working with a team at another insurance firm and that the scheme provided “good returns”.


According to him, the scheme involved creating insurance policies using the names of fake clients.

The DPP had told the court in November: “Further details of this scheme were not shared with the victim.

“However, the accused informed the victim that the investment opportunity would provide the victim with returns of between 10 per cent and 40 per cent on the sums invested.

“The victim knew from the accused’s representations that the investment schemes required creating insurance policies with fake credentials. But he nevertheless agreed to participate in the investment scheme, as it guaranteed high returns for him.”

This “investment opportunity” did not exist, and the unsuspecting victim later transferred more than $543,000 in total to Tiew.

In 2019, Tiew cheated the victim of another $30,400.

This time, he claimed that he needed money to process the sale of his properties in Malaysia, and that the funds raised would purportedly be used to repay the victim’s “investment monies”.

But Tiew did not own any properties in Malaysia, and he instead used the ill-gotten gains to gamble at the Marina Bay Sands casino.

Believing the lies, the victim transferred the $30,400 to Tiew over five occasions between April and June 2019.

The victim alerted the police in May 2020.

In an unrelated case, Tiew was working as a delivery rider when he got into a dispute with a 50-year-old man over a parking space in River Valley Road on April 4, 2024.

Tiew punched the older man, who suffered multiple facial fractures and was treated at Singapore General Hospital.
 

Forum: Sister was sold financial product clearly not suited for her​

Mar 03, 2025

Some financial advisers are making a mockery of the risk profile assessment and selling financial products not suited to buyers.

My sister recently renewed her fixed deposit at a bank. She was persuaded to buy a financial product for investment that was not suited to her conservative characteristics.

I read through her risk profile assessment and was alarmed that she was assessed as a risk-taker when she is clearly not.

She is not an active stock investor or a bond buyer. She does not understand the workings of a bond and does not know the business of US technology stocks. Yet the financial product consists of mainly US technology stocks and bonds.

The financial adviser painted a glorified picture of high returns but was mute on the annual fee payable. When I questioned the adviser later, he informed me that there is an administration fee payable annually.

After the deduction of the annual administration fee, the returns for the financial product are about 2.5 per cent, about the same as a fixed deposit rate.

My sister managed to get out of the investment as it was within the 14-day cooling-off period, but she needed to pay some fees.


I do not understand how financial advisers are still getting away with practices such as not telling their clients that their initial investment amount is not guaranteed.

What’s worse is my sister’s risk profile indicates that she is willing to hold the investment product for another 99 years when she is already in her 60s. This is nonsensical and truly unacceptable.

Foo Sing Kheng
 

Influencer turned prolific fraudster jailed for over 32 months for cheating, forgery and theft​

Chin Tung Sheng pleaded guilty to seven charges on March 7 for the offences he committed from April 2020 to December 2023.

Chin Tung Sheng had committed multiple cheating and forgery offences, and also broke into a house.PHOTO: TUNGSHENG.SG/INSTAGRAM
Andrew Wong
Mar 19, 2025

SINGAPORE – As a local influencer, Chin Tung Sheng had more than 334,000 followers on his Instagram account, where he flaunted the high life in branded garbs and posted pictures of himself in fancy cars and at luxury brand events.

But on March 19, Chin’s reality took a sharp turn. Dressed in a plain white prison shirt, the 26-year-old appeared in court via video link, and was sentenced to 32 months and one week in jail.

District Judge Kenneth Chin said it was clear that Chin was a prolific fraudster who committed multiple similar offences over a substantial period of time.

“His forged documents ranged from bank statements, Acra business accounts, and even a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office,” said the judge. “He also created 26 separate e-mails and 27 mobile numbers to further his schemes.”

One such incident involved cheating a food delivery rider of $63 by forging a PayNow receipt on July 21, 2022. No restitution was made.

The judge said the defence’s submission that cheating the rider warranted only a day’s jail is “wholly inadequate”, instead imposing a week’s jail for the offence.

He added that little weight should be given to the fact that Chin had no prior offences, as he had committed multiple offences – some while breaching his 24-month conditional warning imposed on Jan 8, 2021.

In fact, Chin had only stopped offending after the law finally caught up with him, the judge added.

He also disagreed with the defence’s submissions that Chin’s actions were not premeditated, pointing to how Chin had scouted a Sentosa Bungalow several times and even went there at different times of the day, pretending to be interested in renting the house.

Investigations revealed that Chin had broken into the house between November and December 2023 and stolen around $200,000 worth of designer items, including Louis Vuitton trunks and other display ornaments.

No restitution has been made to date.

Between August 2020 and April 2021, Chin created more than 25 different membership accounts to submit forged payment receipts to Ion Orchard to receive membership points.

He exchanged these membership points for shopping vouchers for the mall on at least 96 occasions. In total, more than $76,900 worth of vouchers were handed to Chin.

Separately, in July 2022, Chin booked a stay at Amara Sanctuary Sentosa and deceived the hotel receptionist that he had made full payment of over $13,200 for the stay by using a doctored photo of a PayNow transaction.

In 2020, Chin also forged multiple documents as he wanted to convince potential business partners that he had connections to the Singapore Government and had strong financial backing.

These documents included his bank account balances, which he doctored to show that he had more than $1.8 billion in one, and $16.9 million in another.

He also made use of a letter that was addressed to his previous company from the Prime Minister’s Office and changed its contents to make it seem like it was addressed only to him, thanking him for the efforts in helping Singapore by providing medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

His carefully curated world came crumbling down on March 7, when he pleaded guilty to seven charges, including cheating, theft and forgery.

While delivering his sentence on March 19, the judge said the length of the jail term being imposed was appropriate and cannot be said to be crushing, as Chin had committed multiple offences.

The judge added that he hoped these episodes would serve as a lesson to Chin, who replied that he had learnt his lesson.

On March 16, experts told The Straits Times that social media can sometimes make crime seem aspirational rather than reckless.

Dr Annabelle Chow, principal clinical psychologist at Annabelle Psychology, said social media platforms can act as breeding grounds for those seeking admiration or validation from others.

Social media has also led to a thriving “flex” culture, where influencers “flex” or flaunt their lives to become the source of envy among their community.

Others like Mr Riko Isaac, a criminal lawyer in Singapore, have noticed a worrying trend of more young people getting involved in crime in exchange for fast or easy money.

“Most of these youth seem to feel a need to satisfy a deeper insecurity of not being successful enough unless they are perceived to have a luxurious lifestyle,” he said.
 

Jail for ‘key cog’ in cryptocurrency scam in which investors in Singapore lost $1.1m​

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Shaffiq Alkhatib


Shaffiq Alkhatib
May 06, 2025

SINGAPORE – He was the chief executive of a firm that offered investment schemes, claiming to have 300,000 physical mining machines capable of generating revenue by mining cryptocurrencies.

But this turned out to be a hoax. Lu Huangbin’s firm, A&A Blockchain Technology Innovation, was in fact running a Ponzi scheme.

According to his charges, the company induced 12 investors to part with more than $1.8 million in total. They later suffered losses totalling about $1.1 million.

On May 6, the 61-year-old Chinese national was sentenced to 4½ years’ jail and a fine of $6,000. Lu, who has made no restitution, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including six counts of cheating.

Nine other charges were considered during his sentencing.

Lu was the last person linked to the case to be dealt with in court. Three others were earlier handed jail sentences.

One of them, Dutch national Yang Bin, then 61, was sentenced to six years’ jail and a fine of $16,000 in August 2024.

At the time of the offences, Yang was the chairman of A&A Blockchain Technology Innovation and was the mastermind of the scam.

Another man, Chinese national Wang Xinghong, then 40, was sentenced to five years’ jail on Aug 6, 2024. He was the firm’s chief technological officer.

A third Chinese national, Chen Wei, then 43, was a director at the company and also Yang’s personal assistant. He was sentenced to four years’ jail and a fine of $6,000 in September 2024.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Shiau Yin told the court on May 6 that Lu was a “key cog” in the scam linked to the firm, which was incorporated on April 20, 2021.

Between May that year and February 2022, it offered a scheme to investors in Singapore.

Known as the A&A Chain Mining Scheme, the company promised investors a fixed daily return of 0.5 per cent on their investments, purportedly generated through the mining of cryptocurrencies.

In its marketing materials – including presentation slides and promotional videos – the company claimed to have an agreement with Yunnan Shun Ai Yun Xun Investment Holdings to acquire 70 per cent ownership of 300,000 mining machines in China.

These machines were said to be able to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

However, the firm did not enter into any such agreement with Yunnan Shun Ai Yun Xun Investment Holdings.

DPP Wong said: “In fact, (A&A Blockchain Technology Innovation) did not mine cryptocurrency to generate revenue. Instead, (it) operated a money circulation or ‘Ponzi’ scheme, using monies from later investors to pay returns owed to earlier investors.”

Lu and his family had invested around US$57,000 (S$73,600) in the scheme and received some US$136,000 in returns.

He did not have a valid work pass in Singapore when he worked as the firm’s chief executive.

The prosecutor also said that between May 2021 and February 2022, the company attracted investments from over 700 investors in Singapore, amounting to around $6.7 million.

Court documents did not disclose if these investors were linked to Lu’s cheating offences.

The documents also did not state how the offences came to light, but all four men were charged in 2023.
 
Torque Founder Bernard Ong discovered 'hiding' at High-End Luxury condo in Singapore (83 Paterson Road #17-01)
 
#1

At least 70 police reports filed against Singaporean-run crypto trading platform Torque

Torque is run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong.

Torque is run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong.
PHOTOS: TORQUESUPERWALLET.ASIA, YOUTUBE
joycelim.png

Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

MAR 24, 2021

SINGAPORE - At least 70 police reports were lodged against online cryptocurrency trading platform Torque, run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong, with investors claiming millions lost in cryptocurrencies.

Three days before the Chinese New Year holidays last month, retail investors were told that one of Torque's employees had apparently violated the company's rules and that his unauthorised trading activities had led to significant losses in their trading accounts.

In a letter to investors, Torque Group Holdings, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and owns the cryptocurrency trading platform, told investors that their accounts had been suspended to prevent further losses. Once the investigations were concluded, investors would be able to withdraw their remaining balances and have the option to close their accounts or resume trading on the platform, said Torque's chief executive Bernard Ong.

But Mr Ong subsequently applied to the BVI Courts to wind up the company.

The application was granted last week (Mar 18) and Mr Philip Smith and Mr Jason Kardachi from restructuring and insolvency specialist firm Borrelli Walsh were appointed as joint liquidators.

A preliminary review of Torque's record and investor database by Borrelli Walsh estimated creditor claims at US$325 million (S$436 million) as at March 2 (2021), while crypto assets under the control of the liquidators are valued at about US$9.1 million (S$12 million) as of Mar 14.

Mr Smith told The Straits Times that investigations were still at an early stage and he is unable to confirm yet how many of Torque's more than 14,000 investors from more than 120 countries, reside in Singapore.

Mr Ong, 33, chief executive of Torque, told ST that he has filed a police report in Singapore against the employee who, he alleges, is responsible for the losses. He said that the employee is not based in Singapore and has not been contactable.

Police confirmed reports were lodged by both Mr Ong and investors and said that they are looking into the matter.

Mr Ong said that Torque, which was incorporated in 2019, has about 80 employees based in Vietnam and Singapore, of which 20 are Singaporeans.

"The cost is too high to run a 24-hour operation in Singapore. And the reason why I registered my company in BVI is because it does not have a regulatory framework towards cryptocurrency. I wanted a place that is more friendly towards crypto space," said Mr Ong.

A search on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority portal showed that Mr Ong is the director and shareholder of 12 companies in Singapore.

Mr Ong said: "Borrelli Walsh has taken over (the company). I am no longer in power of the company. I know that investors are frustrated and angry. As a company, we are doing all we can to help anyone and I am ready to cooperate with any authority."

In an email to ST, Mr Ong's lawyer Sarbrinder Singh of Sanders Law said the purpose of engaging Borrelli Walsh was "to trace and locate the misappropriated funds" by the employee in question, "so that the losses to Torque would be minimised".

Mr Singh added that Mr Ong has been harassed by debt collectors demanding payments for which he is not liable. He is also aware of a potential class action against Mr Ong by a group of investors.

One investor, who has 350 accounts with Torque said he was attracted to Torque's reward scheme which could reward an investor between 0.15 and 0.45 per cent of the amount traded in a day.

The investor who wanted to be known as only Mr Lim, said he opened his first account with Torque in January last year(2020) and invested US$50,000 (S$67,000) in cryptocurrency. In the past one year, he has traded a total of US$350,000 (S$470,000) in cryptocurrency with Torque.

He claimed that at one point he was getting daily rewards of about US$2,000.

The self-employed man, who is in his 30s, said he will wait for the liquidators to conclude their investigations and hoped that he could eventually withdraw his remaining balance of some US$800,000 (S$1.07 million) from his Torque account.


Torque Founder Bernard Ong discovered 'hiding' at High-End Luxury condo in Singapore (83 Paterson Road #17-01)
 

Jail for man who used bogus wine investment scheme to pocket $12.67m of investors’ funds​




Shaffiq Alkhatib
May 22, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man, who set up a company that dealt with wines, and an alleged accomplice devised a fraudulent investment scheme involving the beverage to cheat over 200 investors of millions of dollars between 2008 and 2011.

Based on police investigations, victims linked to the company’s fraudulent sale of wines paid more than $14 million in total.

Eldric Ko, 51, who incorporated Premium Liquid Assets (PLASG) in October 2005 and jointly ran its business with Koo Han Jet, went on to misappropriate $12.67 million of the investors’ funds.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Tay said that Ko, a Singaporean, then squirreled away $8 million for his and Koo’s personal benefits.

On May 22, Ko, who has not made any restitution, was sentenced to seven years and two months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving more than $10 million, and two counts of dealing with his ill-gotten gains.

Twelve other charges were considered during his sentencing. Koo is still at large after he left Singapore in May 2011.

DPP Tay told the court that Ko was PLASG’s sole director and shareholder until Jan 2, 2009. After that, he installed his stepfather as its nominee director, even though the latter played no role in the company’s business.

Court documents stated that PLASG offered wine investment schemes to members of the public, purporting to source for wine from various suppliers in France and sell the beverage to investors.

After operating the business for a few years, Ko realised that PLASG was selling more wine than what the company could purchase.

Part of the reason was because the business was not making enough profits to cover its costs for items such as marketing and rental.

DPP Tay said: “The accused knew that, with the way that he and Koo were running PLASG’s business, PLASG had growing liabilities to its investors, which were more than PLASG’s assets, and which PLASG could not fulfil.

“In the accused’s words, there was a ‘hole’ that kept getting bigger.”

She added that in response to PLASG’s growing liabilities to investors, the pair devised the “En Primeur (EP) wine investment scheme” under the company in 2008.

The prosecutor said that the two men then entered into a conspiracy to trick investors into believing that PLASG would transfer ownership of EP wines to them.

The investors would be dishonestly induced to deliver monies to PLASG for the purchase of these EP wines.

DPP Tay said: “The accused and Koo never intended the EP scheme to be a genuine wine-selling scheme... (They) never intended to purchase the EP wines that they had purported to sell to investors, and they, in fact, never sourced for EP wines from any suppliers.”

According to court documents, the two men then entered into a conspiracy to commit CBT by misappropriating the investors’ funds under the EP scheme.

On Aug 7, 2008, Ko incorporated a shell entity in the British Virgin Islands called Grand Millesimes Limited (GML), which had no actual business activities and was not a real wine supplier.

The prosecutor said the two men agreed to use GML as a fictitious supplier of wines for the EP scheme.

She added that as part the conspiracy, Koo forged invoices issued by GML, which purported to be for the sale of wine to PLASG before sending these invoices to Ko.

Ko then used these forged invoices to justify his transfers of EP investors’ funds from PLASG’s bank account to another one in Switzerland belonging to GML.

After that, he transferred the ill-gotten gains from the Swiss account to a third account in Singapore.

DPP Tay said: “(Ko) deliberately chose to layer his funds transfers in this manner... because he believed that the Singapore police would not be able to obtain information about his overseas account and the illicit transactions.

“After the accused transferred the monies to (the third bank account), he distributed Koo’s share of their illicit benefits from their criminal breach of trust offence... through illegal money remittance businesses and in cash.”

Among other things, Ko misappropriated over $10 million in total between February and October 2009.

Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light but from May 2011, the police received more than 240 reports against PLASG over its fraudulent sale of wines.

Koo left Singapore on May 3, 2011, and Ko did the same 25 days later before the police started investigating the case.

Ko’s bank account in Switzerland was closed in November that year.

He was arrested when he finally returned to Singapore in May 2024. Reasons for his return were not stated in court documents.
 

Woman allegedly loses life savings overnight after joining FB 'hiking group' and instructed to install app​

hscover.jpg

PHOTOS: RAJI VRY/FACEBOOK


Deanna Wong
Submitted by Stomper
Anonymous
A woman allegedly lost all her life savings after connecting with a Facebook group for hikers called "Happy Strides".

A Stomper alerted Stomp to a June 9 post by Facebook user Raji Vry, who said the woman was a close friend.

The administrator of the Facebook group was someone named Jamie.


The post said: "Jamie asked my friend to install this app Azure Club to create her profile by guiding her while talking to her on WhatsApp call.

"Her mobile phone started to lag and Jamie said it's normal and she should just let the program run. The mobile went blank for a few seconds, then everything went back normal."


The next day, when she tried to pay for lunch with her debit card, it was declined.

"She tried to withdraw money from DBS ATM, but there was only about $100 left in her cash balance," said the post.

"That's when she realised something was wrong.

"Large amounts were withdrawn and siphoned to scammers. On top of that, 15 purchases were made to YouTrip account using her digital token. Her transfer limits were changed to facilitate large amount transfers. Her notifications were muted. Her emails were hacked."

Both her DBS accounts were emptied.

"That's her life savings and she was planning to retire. Police report is lodged," said the post.

One netizen commented on the post: "Yeah, they asked me to pay also, then I saw the link and it's asking for my bank details. When I said I can't do that and prefer to pay cash, she blocked me."

The Happy Strides Facebook group may look legitimate, but it appears the photos on its page were taken from other hiking groups.

In one instance, a photo posted on May 20 was originally posted in the Exploring Singapore Hiking Group on Dec 15, 2024.

hs

Happy Strides also stole another photo originally posted on Dec 14, 2024, by Exploring Singapore Hiking Group.

hs2

Additionally, the email address listed on the Happy Strides Facebook page is spelled "gamil.com" instead of "gmail.com".

mail

Members of the public should be wary of installing apps that are outside of the official Google Play Store and Apple App Store, or from dubious sites.

Instead, adopt these precautionary measures:

  • ADD - anti-virus/anti-malware applications to your device. Update your devices' operating systems and applications regularly to be protected by the latest security patches. Disable 'Install Unknown App' or 'Unknown Sources' in your phone settings. Do not grant permission to persistent popups that request for access to your device's hardware or data.
  • CHECK - the developer information on the application listing as well as the number of downloads and user reviews to ensure it is a reputable and legitimate application. Only download and install applications from official app stores (i.e., Google Play Store for Android).
  • TELL - Authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.
 

How a retiree lost $200k to scammers who posed as cops​

Around 46,000 scam cases were reported here in 2023 and there is no sign that the situation has improved given there were already a record high of 26,587 incidents reported by the first half of 2024.

Around 46,000 scam cases were reported here in 2023 and there is no sign that the situation has improved, given there was already a record high of 26,587 incidents reported in the first half of 2024.PHOTO: ST FILE

Tan Ooi Boon
Dec 29, 2024

SINGAPORE - A retiree, seemingly well up on the ways of the world, still ended up losing $200,000 to scammers who posed as foreign cops and maliciously preyed on her illogical fear of being convicted of a “crime” overseas.

Illogical might be too kind a word: The 70-year-old might not even have visited that country then, but she was so fearful of getting a criminal conviction for misusing her credit card there that she transferred the $200,000 to the “police” for safe-keeping, though no government would offer such a service.

As scams go, it was one of the more brazen and improbable, but it also shows that if a smart person can still fall for such a ridiculous ploy, efforts to educate the public on scams continue to fall on many deaf ears.

Around 46,000 scam cases were reported in Singapore in 2023 and there is no sign that the situation has improved, given there was already a record high of 26,587 incidents reported in the first half of 2024.

A plausible reason why such preventable crimes still can snare so many victims is that many people have largely stopped reading the news and important government broadcasts, because they prefer to spend their time looking at entertainment-based content on social media.

How else can one explain why even seemingly educated people continue to fall for the same old tricks that various authorities have warned us about hundreds, possibly thousands, of times?

For instance, the widely reported investigation scams often bear the tell-tale sign of “foreign officials” calling victims in Singapore directly, though in reality, such calls would not happen because overseas agencies have no power to investigate people here.

Moreover, the Singapore police have repeatedly said the business of policing would never be conducted over the phone or on social media platforms. So the police will never call you to verify personal or banking details, let alone ask you to transfer money.

Here are two cases highlighted in the 2024 annual report from the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) to remind everyone that prevention is still the best defence against scams.

$200,000 lost to fake police​

The first concerns our retiree. A fraudster posing as a Beijing police officer called the woman, who lived alone, out of the blue to tell her that her credit card had been used fraudulently in China. The crook even threatened to arrest her if she did not cooperate.

Fearful of the arrest, the woman pleaded with the fraudster and asked how she could prove her innocence. He told her that the call would be transferred to “the Singapore Police Force to guide her”. She was also warned to keep the conversation secret as her “life would be in danger if the fraudsters in the scam ring found out”.

Common sense suggests you would likely raise the alarm when there is an opportunity to be in touch with a policeman, but the retiree did not ask for help even when her call was transferred to another scammer posing as a Singapore police officer.

Instead, she just followed the second crook’s instruction to transfer her money to a “safety account” that had been set up with one of her banks. The crook then sent her a digital copy of a letter that had the bank’s letterhead, account number and her name as the account holder.

The woman then made several transfers totalling $200,000 from her account to that “safety account”. Yet she never once asked why she had to do it or how that account would belong to her when she did not even sign for it. She also never asked her bank about the supposed misuse of her card.

The awful reality slowly began to dawn on her after calls to the “police” a week later to ask about her money went unanswered. She then confided in her daughter, who had read about such cases in the newspapers and immediately told her she might have been scammed.

The retiree then appealed to her bank for help, and when she was not successful, she filed a claim at Fidrec.

During the mediation, she admitted that she had acted under pressure from the scammers and made the online transfers because she thought the funds were going into an account owned by her. But the bank explained that she had made the transfers voluntarily and there was no lapse in its processes.

Moreover, the bank had sent warning notifications asking her whether she understood the nature of the transfers, but she still proceeded. Nevertheless, the bank sympathised with the woman and made a 10 per cent goodwill payment of $20,000 for her loss.

$30,000 lost to fake travel promotion​

Many of us now know that it is extremely hazardous to download any “payment app” to pay for any deal on social media, because this is a well-known ploy hackers use to hijack our phones.

The many news reports on scams linked to advertisements for enticing deals on social media should serve as cautionary tales to remind everyone not to deal with any unknown vendors.

But such warnings left no impression on one victim – let’s call her Jenny – as she clicked on an ad on social media that offered discounts on travel packages.

The crook told her to download an app to pay a nominal deposit of $5 to be eligible for the discounts. Jenny did as she was told and logged in to her own digital bank to make the deposit.

Unknown to her, she had downloaded malware to her mobile device that captured her banking information, including login passwords stored on the device. The scammer used the information to log into her bank account and start swiping her money.

Fortunately, the suspicious transactions were flagged by the bank’s security protocol, which immediately suspended the account. Even so, two transfers involving undisclosed sums had already gone through.

A bank employee called Jenny to alert her of the account suspension, which made her realise that she may have downloaded malware to her phone.

She told the bank employee that she would replace her phone just to be safe, and she was advised to uninstall all non-app store apps before transferring her data to a new phone.

Jenny replaced her mobile phone but did not follow the bank’s advice and ended up downloading the malware to her new phone as well. As a result, more fraudulent transactions occurred, leading to a total loss of $30,000.

She said during a Fidrec mediation that she did not understand the advice to uninstall the suspicious apps as she thought changing her phone would solve the problem. She noted that the bank did help to block the suspicious activity and warn her.

As a goodwill gesture, the bank gave her $6,000 to help lessen the pain of losing her savings.

What you should do​

While the police and banks are doing their utmost to protect you from scammers, you also need to do your part by keeping updated on important news relating to the ever-evolving nature of financial crimes.

We can avoid being scammed only if we practise basic preventive measures such as not responding to calls and messages from unknown parties or downloading apps from dubious sources.

You can boost your defences by downloading the ScamShield app that blocks calls and messages associated with known scam cases and apply the Money Lock feature in banking apps so that a certain portion of your savings cannot be withdrawn via online transfers.

What this means is that when it comes to safeguarding your money, you remain the best defence against those who are trying to steal it.
 

Jail for pair linked to bogus scheme with more than 2,000 S’pore investors, over $13.7m in losses​

Leong Koon Wah (left) and Ng Kuan Chuan at the State Courts in March 2022. They were jailed on Jan 3 over a bogus investment scheme.


Leong Koon Wah (left) and Ng Kuan Chuan at the State Courts in March 2022. They were jailed on Jan 3 over a bogus investment scheme.ST PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG

Shaffiq Alkhatib
Jan 03, 2025

SINGAPORE - He was the managing director of a firm called Singliworld which lured more than 2,000 investors in Singapore into an “investment scheme” that promised trading returns as high as 13 per cent per month.

But the scheme turned out to be fraudulent and there was a loss of over US$10 million (S$13.7 million) after more than US$21 million was collected from the investors, which also included thousands from other countries.

On Jan 3, Leong Koon Wah, 51, who was Singliworld’s managing director at the time of the offences, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail, and ordered to pay a penalty of $3,658,600.

He will spend an additional 18 months behind bars if he fails to fork out the amount.

Leong was also a director at three other firms – Singliworld HK, Triumph Global (Asia), which was incorporated in Hong Kong, and Union Markets, a New Zealand-incorporated company.

As at May 2015, Leong had earned approximately US$3.1 million through multi-level marketing (MLM) despite having invested only a total of US$1,000 himself.

He also held several accounts linked to the scheme in his wife’s name even though she had not made any investments. He earned around US$3.4 million through her accounts.

Ng Kuan Chuan, 38, who was also a director at Triumph Global and Singliworld HK, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ jail after earning some US$300,000.

Ng, who was involved in the management of Union Markets, was also ordered to pay a fine of $300,000 and will spend another six months behind bars in default.

After an 88-day trial, District Judge Soh Tze Bian convicted the two Malaysian men of carrying on Singliworld’s business between March 2014 and May 2015, thereby inducing customers to invest in Singliforex – a scheme where their money would purportedly be used to trade in foreign exchange.

These customers were led to believe that professional traders would conduct the trading on their behalf through “foreign exchange brokerages” – Triumph Global and Union Markets.

However, no such trading had taken place and the scheme was unsustainable.

Judge Soh also convicted the pair of offences involving Triumph Global and Union Markets. The men had carried on the business of foreign exchange trading linked to these two firms even though the companies did not have the necessary licences.

Leong had also pleaded guilty to two other charges involving Singliworld. According to court documents, it had promoted a pyramid-selling scheme between February 2014 and May 2015.

Singliworld had also carried on the business of foreign exchange trading even though it was not licensed to do so.

In his oral grounds of decision in December 2024, Judge Soh said that the Singliforex scheme exhibited multiple hallmarks of fraudulent activity, each of which underscored its deceptive and unsustainable nature with fraudulent features.

He added: “In my view, the scheme preyed on investors’ trust through deliberate misrepresentations, manipulation of outcomes, and unsustainable financial practices.

“By combining the illusion of professional trading, guaranteed profits, and MLM incentives, Leong and Ng as the perpetrators maintained a deceptive front while systematically misappropriating funds, ensuring the eventual collapse of the scheme.”

In earlier proceedings, the prosecution told the court that Leong incorporated Singliworld in December 2012 and was its “directing mind”. He later employed administrating staff from March to May 2015.

Singliword’s only business was promoting to members of the public the Singliforex scheme.

Leong and Singliworld promised prospective investors that a team of “professional traders” would purportedly trade in foreign exchange on behalf of the investors.

Ng was one of the people who had carried out the “trading” even though he was neither qualified nor licensed to do so.

From around March 20, 2014, to April 30, 2015, those who wished to participate in the Singliforex scheme had to open and maintain a forex trading brokerage account with Triumph Global.

From around May 7, 2015, they had to open and maintain such an account with Union Markets.

Deputy public prosecutors Nicholas Tan, Michelle Tay and Suriya Prakash stated in court documents that Singliforex investors were not allowed to have the “trading” done via a forex brokerage of their choice.

Investors were also locked out of their accounts at Triumph Global and Union Markets, and could not do any trading on their own.

At the time of the offences, Singliworld did not hold a capital markets services licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for leveraged foreign exchange trading.

Despite this, Singliworld held itself out as carrying on such a business between March 2014 and May 2015.

Leong had also devised a set of financial incentives so that Singliforex would be an MLM scheme, with incentives designed to encourage investors to refer and recruit others to participate in the scheme.

The prosecution said that Leong structured the Singliforex scheme to be pyramidal in nature, and placed himself at the apex of the pyramid.

On Jan 3, Leong and Ng were each offered bail of $300,000. Leong is expected to begin serving his sentence on Jan 31, while Ng intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
 

Woman loses $67k after believing scammer’s lie that she wrongly bought WeChat ‘anti-scam insurance’​

The victim took out two bank loans to pay for the insurance policy's 'cancellation', even though such a policy did not exist.

Between Aug 28, 2024, and the end of the year, at least 1,591 cases of impersonation scams featuring Chinese firms were reported, with total losses of at least $27.9 million. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Nadine Chua
Jan 11, 2025

SINGAPORE – A woman lost most of her savings after she believed a scammer’s lie that she had mistakenly bought insurance coverage from WeChat and paid $67,500, hoping to cancel the policy.

Ironically, the policy was called “protection from scams insurance”.

Impersonating a WeChat employee, the scammer told the victim, 35, that she needed to make several transfers from her bank accounts to “authenticate” the cancellation of this policy.

Desperate to avoid paying premiums for something she did not remember applying for, she said she took out loans for tens of thousands of dollars to settle the cancellation.

The victim, who wanted to be known only as Ms Ng, has made a police report. The police said investigations are ongoing.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Jan 3, Ms Ng, a manager at a telecommunications firm, said the scammer called her in December 2024.

He told her that she had paid for the policy on WeChat using her Trust Bank card, which she had linked to the WeChat messaging app.

Ms Ng said she believed him because she had just linked her Trust Bank card to her WeChat account, so the timing made sense.

“The scammer sounded professional and could even list the banks I had accounts with. He said money would continue to be deducted from my card if I didn’t cancel the policy quickly. So I was quite anxious.”


Following the scammer’s instructions, Ms Ng took out a $27,800 loan from her Trust Bank account and transferred the money to the scammer.

She said: “He kept saying it was just a ‘virtual loan’. So I thought it was virtual money and I wouldn’t get charged for it. I was so naive, it didn’t occur to me there would be actual money involved.

“Now, as I’m recounting what happened, I feel stupid because I know what the scammer said made no sense. But at that point I felt like I had been brainwashed.”

Over the almost two-hour call with the scammer, Ms Ng took out another loan of $16,700 to pay the scammer and transferred another $23,000 of her savings to an offshore account.

She added: “Every time I hesitated and questioned the scammer, he would direct me to his ‘supervisor’ and convince me to stay on the line. I just followed instructions.”

She realised she had been scammed only when she saw the $23,000 deducted from her account, despite the scammer telling her the transaction would not go through.

Ms Ng, who is single, said she plans to take on part-time jobs to repay the loans she took.

“I’ve been scolding myself about what I have done. I regularly read the news about scams and would even warn my elderly mother about the latest scam tactics. Yet I’ve fallen for a scam myself,” she said.

In response to ST’s queries, a Trust Bank spokesman said the bank was in contact with Ms Ng to provide support but could not share more details due to customer confidentiality.

The spokesman added: “We note that the authorities have highlighted an increasing number of scam typologies in Singapore across the industry, including scams where victims receive unsolicited phone calls from scammers impersonating staff from a range of companies.”

The bank urged customers to follow safe banking practices, including keeping card and banking credentials secure.

Scam numbers hit record highs in the first half of 2024, with more than $385.6 million lost in 26,587 reported cases. Losses were almost 25 per cent higher than the $309.4 million recorded during the same period in 2023.

On Jan 9, 2025, the police said that between Aug 28, 2024, and the end of the year, at least 1,591 cases of impersonation scams featuring Chinese companies were reported, with total losses amounting to at least $27.9 million.

The police previously said that in such cases, victims would receive phone calls from scammers impersonating staff of Chinese companies such as Tencent, WeChat or UnionPay.

The scammer would inform victims they had paid for insurance coverage or a WeChat subscription, among other things.

Victims would be instructed to provide their bank information to verify their identities and transfer money to other accounts to cancel their subscription when, in fact, none existed.

On Jan 7, 2025, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said that from January to September 2024, 86 per cent of scams and 94 per cent of scam losses involved victims willingly transferring money to scammers.

NUS business professor Lawrence Loh said that during such calls, emotions tend to take over, and the fear of losing money dominates rational thinking.

He added: “Verification is key, but people should never establish the authenticity of the call with the caller. Instead, call the bank or the ScamShield helpline to check if it is a scam. Get opinions from your family and friends, and never keep it to yourself.”
 

At least 82 cases of malware scams reported since December, with $625,000 in losses​

Victims would be guided to configure settings in their devices to disable Google Play Protect.

Scammers would instruct victims to download a malicious application in an APK file format through WhatsApp to resolve payment issues, among other steps.PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Sherlyn Sim
Jan 11, 2025


SINGAPORE – Scammers remain a menace, with at least 82 cases of malware scams reported since December 2024 and total losses amounting to about $625,000.

The victims fell for an emerging variant of the malware scam by responding to fraudulent Facebook and TikTok advertisements for travel and cleaning services, said the police on Jan 10. Victims would leave their contact details to indicate their interest.

Scammers would then contact them through WhatsApp and request a $5 payment as a membership fee or an upfront deposit to be made through a phishing link.


After keying in their credit or debit card details, the victims would face payment issues.

Scammers would instruct them to download a malicious application in an Android package kit (APK) file format through WhatsApp to resolve the payment issues.

An APK is an app solely for Android users. Once downloaded, the malicious APK allows scammers to access and take control of victims’ devices remotely.

The malware would allow scammers to steal sensitive information such as SMS one-time passwords. They would then perform unauthorised card transactions either from the victims’ mobile device or their own.

In some cases, victims would be guided to configure settings in their devices to disable Google Play Protect, which helps to prevent harmful downloads.

Once disabled, victims would not receive alerts when they unknowingly downloaded and installed malware into their mobile phones.


The police advise people to practise “ACT” – add security features, check for signs and tell the authorities and others about scams.

If you have downloaded and installed a malicious application, or suspect that your phone is infected with malware, you should turn your phone to flight mode and ensure that Wi-Fi is switched off.

You should also run an anti-virus scan on your phone.

Scam victims in Singapore lost $385.6 million in the first half of 2024, with the number of cases hitting a high of 26,587.
 

ICA suspends online change of address service after scammers alter dozens of victims’ addresses​

(From Left) ICA Director, Customer Operations, Angie Wong, Deputy Commissioner (Policy & Transformation) Cora Chen, Commissioner Marvin Sim and Director, Policy and Development division, Chui Wai Cheng during the press conference at the ICA building on Jan 11.

(From left) ICA director of customer operations Angie Wong, deputy commissioner (policy and transformation) Cora Chen, Commissioner Marvin Sim and director of the policy and development division Chui Wai Cheng at the press conference at the ICA building on Jan 11.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Gabrielle Andres and Anjali Raguraman

Jan 12, 2025

SINGAPORE – The home addresses of about 60 people were changed online without their knowledge, after scammers obtained their NRIC and Singpass details.

Scammers had used compromised Singpass accounts to circumvent several security safeguards in the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s (ICA) change of address system.

ICA has temporarily suspended the change of address function on its website to implement additional security measures to prevent further abuse.


It will also conduct a review in the next two days, and will likely resume the service on Jan 14, it said.

Initially, only several unauthorised changes of residential address were reported in 2024.

But the number has increased recently, and it appears this is one method for crime syndicates to gain access to and control the victims’ Singpass accounts.

On Jan 11, ICA said it started investigating such cases in September 2024.

All NRIC holders are required to report a change of address within 28 days of moving into a new residence, whether it is located in or outside Singapore.

Anyone who reports a false residential address can be fined up to $3,000, jailed for two years, or both. It is also an offence if a user does not affix the new address sticker to the NRIC.


To make it convenient for members of the public to update the authorities on their new address, ICA had in 2020 introduced a feature on its website to allow them to do it online, without needing to go to the police station.

They can access the e-service using Singpass.

To verify the new address, applicants input a unique PIN sent by mail to their new address. Once confirmed, an instant acknowledgement will be sent to indicate the change of address is successful.

Those who are not tech-savvy or unable to submit applications through the online service can appoint proxies, such as a friend or family member who is a Singpass holder, to submit the applications on their behalf through the “Others” module on the e-service.

That person must provide the applicant’s NRIC number and its date of issue to access the e-service.

To complete the process, the proxy must also obtain and enter the PIN mailed to the applicant’s new address.

ICA said an average of 900 Singapore residents change their residential address through proxies every month.

But in September 2024, several unconnected cases of unauthorised change of address were reported to ICA.

And more cases recently surfaced.

By December, ICA realised how the unauthorised changes were done.

ICA said it has so far found about 80 unauthorised attempts, 75 per cent of which were successful in changing the addresses.

It said this is believed to have occurred after the perpetrators used stolen or compromised Singpass accounts to change the residential address of the victim through the “Others” module of the e-service.

To do so, the scammers would have previously acquired both the victim’s NRIC number and its date of issue, to input these details into the e-service.

A verification PIN mailer would then be sent to the registered address specified by the scammers.

But the criminals can then use this method to reset the victims’ Singpass passwords.

For example, if someone forgets his Singpass password, he will request a new one to be sent to his home address.

So now, the criminals could pretend to be the victim and ask for a new password to be sent to the new address they listed.

Once the password has been sent, the criminals can access the victim’s Singpass account.

Said ICA: “It is likely that the perpetrators are using stolen or compromised Singpass accounts and letter boxes of third parties to generate more mule accounts to use for scams and other cybercrimes.”

At a press conference on Jan 11, ICA Commissioner Marvin Sim said there was no indication that foreign actors were involved, and that the scammers were likely to be locals. There was also no particular demographic of victims involved.

Mr Marvin Sim, commissioner, ICA, announcing the temporary suspension of Immigration & Checkpoints Authority's (ICA) electronic change of address service during the press conference at the ICA building on Jan 11.

ICA Commissioner Marvin Sim announcing the temporary suspension of ICA’s electronic change of address service on Jan 11.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
The authorities are considering integrating face verification technology into the Singpass log-in for the e-Change of Address service.

ICA said this will minimise the risk that a perpetrator can use the stolen Singpass account of a third party to access the service to change a victim’s address.

Those who require proxy assistance for change of address can approach the IC Unit at the ICA Building for help.

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ICA reminded the public to check that their registered addresses have not been changed without their knowledge.

The authority said it is in the midst of contacting those affected, and will provide them with a replacement NRIC that features the same number but a different date of issue.

It will also revert the victims’ registered addresses to the correct ones, and work with the Government Technology Agency to reset Singpass accounts that may have been compromised, it added.

ICA said the police are investigating the cases.

Mr Sim said there is no indication that the incidents are connected to the disclosure of NRIC numbers via the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s new Bizfile portal.
 

2 people avoid losses of over $218,000 due to Anti-Scam Centre and banks’ efforts​

Intervention by Anti-Scam Centre and partner banks prevented more than $218, 900 in losses in two scam cases.

Intervention by the Anti-Scam Centre and partner banks prevented more than $218,900 in losses in two scam cases.PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Fatimah Mujibah
Jan 13, 2025

SINGAPORE – Two people who were targeted in separate scam schemes managed to avoid losses of more than $218,900 after the police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and the victims’ banks stepped in.

ASC worked with Standard Chartered and DBS banks to stop the funds from going through in two separate joint operations in December 2024, said the police on Jan 13.

In the first case, a 69-year-old woman was offered a dropshipping job opportunity online by a scammer.


Dropshipping is a type of retail business in which the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand.

The job required the victim to access a website to facilitate transactions. On this platform, so-called customers would approach her to purchase goods, and she would place orders for these goods from a supposed supplier.

The victim would then make an advance payment to the “supplier” and later receive a sales commission from the “customer” when the deal was completed.

By the end of November 2024, the victim had made payments amounting to $112,000 to the bank accounts provided by the “supplier”.

The victim was also encouraged to take more orders from “customers” on the platform.

On Dec 3, 2024, however, as she attempted to withdraw $200,000 in cash at a Standard Chartered Bank branch, she was stopped by branch staff.


She was unable to produce any invoices to support her purchase of goods, and the staff noted that there were frequent cash withdrawals made from her bank account during this period and suspected that she might be involved in a scam.

The case was then raised to the bank’s fraud team, which escalated it to ASC, where officers spoke to the victim. She realised later that she had fallen prey to a scam.

In the second case, a 56-year-old woman received a call in December 2024 from a scammer claiming to be a WeChat staff member.

The victim was lied to by the scammer that she had a WeChat insurance policy whose premium would soon be due. To avoid having the premium automatically deducted, she would have to cancel the policy.

fmscam13 - Swift intervention by Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and partner banks prevented more than $218900 in losses in two scam casesCredit: SPF

The Anti-Scam Centre and DBS Bank worked to prevent losses of more than $18,900 for the victim of a scam in December.PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
The victim then followed the scammer’s instructions to cancel the policy, which allegedly required an upfront payment. She transferred more than $69,000 to a bank account provided by the scammer.

When the victim attempted another transaction of more than $18,900 on Dec 7, 2024, DBS Bank’s anti-scam team flagged it as a suspicious transaction, and the bank placed a hold on the funds. DBS also alerted the officers from ASC.

The intervention prevented further losses amounting to more than $18,900 for the victim.

The police advised the public to adopt preventive measures such as not installing software from unverified sources, and ensuring privacy when keying in personal particulars or bank login details.

They added that people should tell their friends and family about potential scams and not be pressured into acting impulsively.
 
James Phang got connections, singapore went gentle on him.
No connections la he was lucky.
But malaysian side he bribed them to be let off the hook.
Be fair la tiong money launderers can bribe their way out in sg so can sinkie do it in midland
 
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