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

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Taylor Swift concert ticket scam: Woman jailed 36 months for cheating victims of more than $110k​

Foo Mei Qi, 30, was sentenced to 36 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one amalgamated charge of cheating.

Feb 06, 2025

SINGAPORE – Shortly after she was released from jail for cheating fans into buying non-existent tickets to Taiwanese singer Eric Chou’s concert, a woman went back to her old ways.

The victims this time were more than 70 fans of American star Taylor Swift.

On Feb 6, Foo Mei Qi, 30, was sentenced to 36 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one amalgamated charge of cheating.

Between June 2023 and February 2024, she cheated 76 people of over $110,700 in total. The victims were deceived into thinking she was selling them tickets on Carousell to Swift’s concerts.

In March 2024, Swift performed six nights of The Eras Tour in Singapore, which was her only stop in South-east Asia.

It was not mentioned in court if any of Foo’s victims were from overseas.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng said Foo would ask victims to transfer various sums of money to her in exchange for concert tickets. After they did so, she would cease contact with them.

In addition to these 76 victims, Foo also sold fake concert tickets to three other victims.

These victims paid a total of $7,780 to Foo, only to find out on the day they attended the concert that the tickets sent to them were not genuine as they were unable to enter the concert venue.

DPP Ng said Foo also pretended to sell tickets to the Bruno Mars concert in Singapore and cheated another three victims into transferring over $1,000 to her.

She was arrested on March 11, 2024, after multiple police reports were filed.

Foo later admitted that she used the money to pay for her daily expenses, including meals for herself and her family, her medical bills, and her wedding.

No restitution has been made to any of the victims.

Referencing the song Enchanted from Swift’s third album, Speak Now, DPP Ng said: “Enchanted by the accused’s promises of much-coveted tickets to the Singapore leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in March 2024, innocent victims were cheated of $110,742.20.”

The prosecutor sought a jail term of 36 to 38 months’ jail, noting that it was not the first time Foo had perpetrated such a scam.


In March 2022, she was sentenced to 17 months’ jail after admitting to listing tickets to concerts by Chou and Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, and related fan merchandise, even though she did not have any of those items. The total loss suffered by all the victims in that case was over $13,000.

“Even that substantial period of imprisonment was not sufficient to deter her from preying on desperate fans who were unable to secure concert tickets, to fund her own gold rush,” said DPP Ng, referencing another of Swift’s song, gold rush, from the album, evermore.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Viveganandam Devaraj said what his client did was not a premeditated scheme but rather a “series of unfortunate events”.

In response, District Judge Paul Chan asked: “How can there be no premeditation if she cheated 76 victims?”

Mr Devaraj then replied that he accepted that there was premeditation and sought leniency from the court.

In sentencing, the judge said Foo demonstrated a strong commitment to offending, and significant weight must be placed on the fact that she is a repeat offender. “The previous sentence was insufficient to deter her from committing the same offence. The accused’s criminal appetite has increased, and there are now more victims involving a greater amount of money,” he added.

In March 2024, The Straits Times reported that at least 960 victims lost over $538,000 in 10 weeks to Taylor Swift concert ticket scams.

Two months later, a teenage boy admitted to cheating three victims of $1,540 by claiming that he had tickets to Swift’s concert for sale.

In November 2024, a woman was sentenced to seven months’ jail for scamming six people of over $2,700 for concerts by Swift and Ed Sheeran.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Victims lost at least $32.6m to scams since January, police urge vigilance​

More than 470 cases of investment scams have been reported since January 2025.

Feb 11, 2025

SINGAPORE – At least $32.6 million were lost to investment scams since January 2025, with police urging members of the public to remain vigilant.

More than 470 cases of such scams have been reported, police said in an advisory on Feb 11.

Victims were approached through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as messaging and dating applications such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Coffee Meets Bagel.


“Scammers would build rapport with victims to gain their trust before introducing ‘investment opportunities’, which may involve cryptocurrencies,” police said in the advisory.

In these cases, the scammers would then persuade the victims to transfer their cryptocurrencies to fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platforms, or scammer’s wallets.

Some victims would initially receive small profits, to deceive them to continue investing, police added. Fake “investment” websites or applications would display allegedly growing “profits” made by the victims, to lead them to invest larger sums.

In other cases, victims encountered investment advertisements on social media platforms featuring supposed endorsements from political figures or celebrities.


After clicking the links on these advertisements, the victims would be led to messaging platforms to contact the scammers.

“In other cases, victims were redirected to fraudulent trading platforms instead and prompted to provide their personal particulars, such as contact details and card details to register for an account,” police said.

“These victims would then receive phone calls or messages from scammers posing as staff from investment companies or brokers.”

Additionally, scammers gained some victims by adding them to chat groups or channels, such as on messaging platform Telegram.

“To lure victims into believing that the investment is authentic and profitable, these chat groups or channels may associate themselves with famous individuals or reputable companies or have other ‘members’ in the chat group attest to the profits they have made from the investments,” police said.

Victims who reached out to the scammers would be offered various investment plans and asked for their personal information to join the “investment”.

Scammers may also use “investment” websites or applications to display “profits” to reinforce their scam.

Most of the victims realised they had been scammed when they could not withdraw their profits despite transferring increasingly large sums as fees incurred for their “investment”.

Scammers would also become uncontactable in some cases.

Police advised members of the public to be cautious when making investment decisions and to take precautionary steps to avoid being scammed.

This includes:

• Setting up or activating security features, such as the privacy function, which prevents unknown users from adding them to chat groups;
• Checking for scam signs with official sources or websites and verifying the authenticity of the investment company; and
• Telling authorities, as well as family and friends, if or when they encounter scams.

Members of the public can also reach out to the ScamShield Helpline at 1799 if they are in doubt.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

At least 189 Carousell, Facebook users lost over $303,000 to phishing scams since January​

At least 189 people have since Jan 1 fallen prey to fraudsters posing as interested “buyers” on platforms such as Carousell and Facebook Marketplace.

Feb 12, 2025

SINGAPORE – Users of online marketplace platforms have lost more than $303,000 to phishing scams involving fake buyers since Jan 1.

In a statement on Feb 12, the police said that at least 189 people have fallen prey to fraudsters posing as interested “buyers” on platforms such as Carousell and Facebook Marketplace.

After agreeing on the selling price of the listed items through in-app chat functions or separate messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, victims would receive an e-mail, purportedly from the online marketplace platform, confirming the order.


The e-mail would prompt victims to click on an embedded link in order to receive payment, the police said.

After clicking on the link, victims would be redirected to a spoofed bank website and asked to key in their personal information, such as banking credentials, card details and one-time-passwords.

In other cases, scammers would offer to arrange a courier service for the items.

Victims would then receive a QR code or a phishing link, purportedly from delivery companies such as Grab and Lalamove, to facilitate delivery.

Upon scanning the QR code or clicking on the phishing link, victims would be directed to a spoofed delivery company website or bank website, where they would enter their personal information to complete the transaction.

Victims would realise that they had been scammed only after discovering unauthorised transactions in their bank accounts or bank cards.


Scam cases reached an all-time high in the first half of 2024, with more than $385.6 million lost across 26,587 reported incidents.

Data for the second half of 2024 is not yet available.

The public is urged to adopt precautionary measures, such as enabling security features, checking for scam signs against official sources and reporting scams to the authorities.

For more information or to report such crimes, individuals can contact the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or visit the ScamShield website.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Nearly 10 years’ jail for woman who committed cheating linked to over $5.7m of mostly crypto funds​

Ho Kai Xin pleaded guilty to five cheating charges, eight counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct, and one count of giving false information to a public servant.

Feb 20, 2025

SINGAPORE - By making amendments on Microsoft Excel files used for payrolls, a woman working at a fintech company committed cheating linked to more than $5.7 million, mostly relating to cryptocurrency.

On Feb 20, Ho Kai Xin, 32, was sentenced to nine years and 11 months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to five cheating charges, eight counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct, and one count of giving false information to a public servant.

Thirty other charges were considered during her sentencing.

In January, the Singaporean was given six weeks’ jail for contempt of court after spending the ill-gotten funds despite being ordered not to do so.

Ho will start serving her longer sentence after completing her earlier one.

The prosecution said she had used her ill-gotten gains to live a lavish lifestyle, including placing a down payment of nearly $750,000 for a penthouse in Gilstead Road near Dunearn Road worth more than $3.7 million.

She also bought sunglasses, bags, shoes, shirts and rings from luxury brand Louis Vuitton, each costing thousands of dollars, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin told the court.

DPPs Bin and Ariel Tan stated in court documents that from Oct 20, 2021, to Oct 6, 2022, Ho worked as a payroll processing staff member at Wechain Fintech Singapore.

Wechain had been engaged to handle the payroll for employees of ByBit Fintech, a company from Seychelles that owns and operates a cryptocurrency exchange.


Ho was in charge of carrying out payroll processing for around 900 ByBit employees.

She committed cheating for profit for the first time in May 2022 by swindling Wechain of more than $117,000 after making amendments to Microsoft Excel files, reflecting payments that she was not entitled to.

The DPPs told the court: “When her actions went undetected, the accused became emboldened, going on a cheating spree to drain her client company, ByBit, of its monies.

“Month after month, she (made off with) massive amounts of cryptocurrency from ByBit’s electronic wallet into four of her own.”

Police managed to seize from Ho Kai Xin more than $330,000 worth of items including a Mercedes-Benz car.

PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Ho owned six bank accounts and four electronic wallets on four different cryptocurrency platforms.

To carry out her offences involving ByBit, she dishonestly inserted into an Excel file fraudulent rows showing purported payments owed by ByBit in cryptocurrency USDT.


She also stated in this row that the payment was to be made to one of her four electronic wallet addresses.

To deceive ByBit into paying out these amounts, Ho inserted the names of its employees together with her electronic wallet addresses.

She then received the money from ByBit in her electronic wallets before converting her ill-gotten gains into fiat currencies.

From May 31 to Aug 31, 2022, ByBit made eight cryptocurrency transfers from its electronic wallet to Ho’s four wallets, amounting to more than 4.2 million USDT.

After committing multiple counts of cheating involving $5.7 million in total, she laundered over $4.3 million of her criminal proceeds.

In February 2023, a Wechain representative alerted the police about Ho’s offences. Officers arrested her two months later.

Ho later lied to an investigation officer. Among other things, she claimed that her purported cousin – one “Jason Teo”, who does not exist – was responsible for the unlawful transactions.

The court heard that police managed to seize from Ho more than $330,000 worth of items including a Mercedes-Benz car.

ByBit also managed to recover more than 1.1 million USDT from her electronic wallets and over $140,000 from one of her bank accounts.

Ho has not made any offers to repay the remaining amount to ByBit.

On Feb 20, defence lawyer James Gomez pleaded for his client, a mother of two young sons, to be given up to eight years and eight months’ jail, adding: “Her actions were a lapse in judgment, and she has since reflected deeply on the consequences they have had on her family, the victim and the justice system.”

Separately, a civil court had earlier ordered Ho not to utilise her ill-gotten gains. However, she disobeyed the court orders and spent close to $840,000 on items, including multiple luxury goods.

For flouting the High Court orders, she was handed the earlier sentence of six weeks’ jail on Jan 27.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Scam victims in Singapore lose record $1.1 billion in 2024; highest number of cases ever reported​

The overall amount scams in 2024 is around 70 per cent higher than the $651.8 million scammers took in 2023.

Feb 25, 2025

SINGAPORE – Scam victims in Singapore lost $1.1 billion in 2024, marking a record high amount of losses suffered in a single year.

Almost 25 per cent of this involved cryptocurrency, a surge from 6.8 per cent of total losses in 2023.

Overall, the amount lost to scams in 2024 is around 70 per cent higher than the $651.8 million that scammers took in 2023, said police in releasing the annual scam figures on Feb 25.

In total, victims in Singapore have lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019.

Police saw the highest number of scam reports ever in 2024, with 51,501 cases recorded compared with 46,563 cases the previous year.

Over 70 per cent of these cases involved less than $5,000 in losses each. Police said the median loss per case is around $1,300.

The most common ruse in 2024 was e-commerce scams, with 11,665 reported cases and victims losing at least $17.5 million in total.

Around one in two of these victims was aged between 30 and 49.

Police said the concert ticket ruse contributed to the majority of e-commerce cases.

In such a ruse, victims are fooled into believing that they have paid for tickets, which are then not delivered or discovered to be fake.

In March 2024, The Straits Times reported that at least 960 victims lost over $538,000 in just 10 weeks to Taylor Swift concert ticket scams.

Job scams continued to be among the top scams of concern in 2024, although there was a dip in the number of cases reported. In total, victims reported more than 9,000 cases and lost $156.2 million.

Phishing scams rounded off the top three scams of concern in 2024 with $59.4 million lost, more than four times the amount lost the year before.

Police figures showed that over 70 per cent of scam victims were below 50 years old.

Young adults and those aged below 50 most commonly fell for e-commerce scams, while those aged 50 to 64 and the elderly mostly lost money in phishing scams.

On cryptocurrency losses, Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) director David Chew described the pivot to crypto as disturbing.

“Scammers know that we are tightening bank controls and charging money mules who sell their bank accounts and that, sooner or later, bank accounts will dry up.

“Hence, they are pivoting with speed.”

He said scammers are taking advantage of the fact that cryptocurrency can be moved quickly.

The authorities are also finding it harder to stop scammers from making transfers to their wallets.

“While you know the wallet number, you may not know who is behind it or where it is, and we may not be able to freeze the money if the wallet is in a cryptocurrency exchange based overseas,” said Mr Chew.

He added that scammers can employ cryptocurrency tumblers or mixers, which can hide the origins of transactions and make them difficult to trace.

“It is very easy for cryptocurrency to go into a mixer, and once you mix it, victims will never have their line of sight back to their accounts,” Mr Chew said.

Police said the increase in the overall amount lost to scams in 2024 was driven by a “small number of cases with very high losses”, with four cases alone accounting for $237.9 million in losses.

One of these cases involved a business e-mail compromise ruse, with a commodities company in Singapore losing $57.2 million to scammers in July 2024.

Police said the firm had responded to an e-mail which it thought was from a vendor informing it of a change in bank account details for payment.

The firm made payment to the “updated” bank account, only to learn that it was a scam when it received a late payment notice from the actual vendor.

The fake bank account was traced to Timor-Leste. Around US$42 million (S$56 million) was recovered after the Anti-Scam Command, Interpol and the Timor-Leste authorities intervened, and nine arrests were made.

Police said that in more than three in four cases, victims had transferred sums of monies without scammers gaining direct control of their accounts.

They added that the victims were manipulated into performing the monetary transactions through deception and social engineering.

CAD’s Mr Chew said that in such cases, scammers target and “groom” people with assets.

“By the time victims realise that it is a scam, it is too late and the money is long gone. The danger of self-effected transfers lies in the delayed response and self-denial,” he added.

Police said that some individuals were so taken in by the scammers’ deceit that they refused to believe that they were being scammed despite repeated advice from loved ones and the authorities.

The surge in reports of victims voluntarily handing their money to scammers prompted

the Protection from Scams Bill, which was passed in Parliament in January 2025.

The law gives the police powers to restrict individuals from transferring money out of their bank accounts, if there is reason to believe that they are likely to make transfers to scammers.

By imposing the restriction, the authorities have more time to convince would-be victims that they are being scammed.

Police said their Anti-Scam Command, which was operationalised in 2022 to combat scams, recovered over $182 million in scam losses and averted at least $483 million in potential losses in 2024.

Following numerous islandwide enforcement operations the same year, the police also charged more than 660 scammers and money mules in court.

Mr Jeffrey Chin, deputy director of the Scam Public Education Office, said scammers will constantly find ways to push victims into making fast decisions.

Instead of rushing, people should stop, think and then act.

“We urge you to slow down, take a moment to check if you are unsure if something is a scam,” he added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Victims have lost $1.4m to scammers pretending to be Shopee, UnionPay, MAS employees since January​

Since January, the police have received 12 reports of such impersonation scams.

Feb 28, 2025

SINGAPORE - The public is advised to be vigilant against scammers pretending to be employees from Shopee, UnionPay or the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), after victims lost at least $1.4 million in two months.

Since January, police have received 12 reports of such impersonation scams.

In a joint statement on Feb 28, the police and MAS said victims would receive calls from a scammer pretending to be from Shopee, who would inform them that they would be charged recurring fees because of an insurance policy they had supposedly signed up for on the platform.

The victims would be redirected to a second scammer claiming to be a UnionPay service representative trying to verify their policy details.

The scammer would ask victims for their personal information, such as bank account details and credentials, said the authorities.

Victims would then be told that the fees would automatically be deducted from their bank accounts linked to Shopee, unless they cancelled the policy.

To cancel the non-existent policy, the scammer would guide the victims to transfer money to a specified bank account for purported safekeeping, via a screen-sharing function on WhatsApp.

“Throughout the process, victims were given the reassurance that their monies would be refunded upon successful cancellation of their policies,” the authorities said.

In other cases, victims would be redirected to a scammer claiming to be an MAS officer, after being contacted by a bogus Shopee employee.

The scammer would then tell the victims that their bank accounts were involved in money laundering activities, and they would have to transfer money to a specified bank account to assist in investigations, said the authorities.

“The scammer would send screenshots of court orders purportedly from MAS, through WhatsApp, to convince the victims to transfer to them the monies,” they added.

Victims would realise they had been scammed when the scammers became uncontactable or when they did not receive the refunds as promised.

In their statement, the authorities reiterated that Shopee and UnionPay would not request personal information or payments from their users via unsolicited phone calls, e-mails, WhatsApp messages or SMS.

MAS would also never ask members of the public to transfer money, or disclose personal or banking credentials, they said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Woman loses $1.2m to scammers who pretended to be officers from police’s Anti-Scam Centre​

In 2024, there were 1,504 reported cases of government official impersonation scams, with losses amounting to at least $151.3 million.

Mar 18, 2025

SINGAPORE - Scammers claiming to be officers from the police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) caused a woman to lose $1.2 million over the course of two months.

The ruse is a variant of the government impersonation scam.

The victim, who did not want her real name used, recounted her ordeal during an interview with the media on March 14 facilitated by the police.

She said it started with a phone call on Dec 11, 2024, from a person who identified herself as Jenny, an officer from ASC.

Jane (not her real name) was told that her identity card number was being misused, and she was urged to make a police report.

The woman, who is in her 50s and works in finance, said she was then transferred to another person who claimed over the phone that he was a police officer.

“Inspector Yang” sounded local, said Jane, who added that he sent her a one-time view image of a “police pass”.

“He showed me his pass, which disappeared after I clicked on it.

“I was suspicious and thought he might not be a real police officer. But when I questioned him, he got angry and said: ‘I have the right to suspect you.’”

The man told Jane that her identity card number was used to open a bank account, which then received money laundering funds.

He accused Jane of receiving a 10 per cent commission from the ill-gotten funds.

The man told Jane that she had to surrender her bank statements and update him on her whereabouts up to four times a day via WhatsApp.

He warned her not to tell anyone and claimed the case was confidential – a common tactic used by fraudsters to isolate victims from their loved ones.

Jane wanted to show she was cooperative and did everything he told her.

On Dec 13, she received a letter purportedly from the police saying she will be charged with laundering the proceeds of criminal activities.


The letter also said she would be detained for 60 days if she did not comply with their instructions.

However, the letter was, in fact, from the scammers.

Jane said that she was unwell at the time, and did not verify the authenticity of the letter.

The man called Jane over WhatsApp on Dec 14 and said he had to transfer the call to his supervisor, “Inspector Chong”.

This other scammer told her to withdraw $500,000 from her bank account.

They knew how much money she had because she had given them her bank statements over WhatsApp earlier, as instructed.

“Inspector Chong” told her to open a bank account with a Chinese bank and use it to transfer money to various bank accounts.

He claimed the money would be used as bait so they could round up the other suspects in her case.

“They wanted me to help with investigations by transferring money to these people, so they could catch them,” said Jane.

“I was very sick and I was overloaded with work, so I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I just wanted to give them whatever they wanted so they could close the case,” she said, adding that she was also dealing with the death of her father.

Between Dec 18 and 19, Jane made nine bank transfers to various payees who had accounts with the Chinese bank. She transferred a total of $180,000.

Jane said “Inspector Chong” told her that ASC would call her.

“I was told, if ASC asked if I was being scammed, I was to tell them I knew what I was doing, and I was helping the police,” she said.

Just two days after she opened the bank account, Jane said the Chinese bank suspended her account over what they said were suspicious transfers.

She then received a call from “Inspector Chong” on Dec 20, who told her to close the account and withdraw the remaining $320,000.

The money was to be passed to an “investigation team”, he said.

She withdrew the full sum in $100 notes, then met up with an “officer” and handed him the cash at a public space in central Singapore.

Jane said that “Inspector Chong” was on the phone with her and helped her identify the “officer”.

She described the man as Chinese with a local accent. He looked to be in his 30s.

Jane eventually met the same man and another individual a total of four times, passing them varying sums of cash she withdrew from her bank account.

Her last meeting with one of them was on Jan 3, 2025.

In total, she handed over her life savings of $1.2 million to the scammers – money which she intended to use for her new home and retirement.

Jane said she tried to get her money back many times, but the scammers claimed the case was before the High Court, so she had to wait.

She realised she had been duped after the scammers stopped responding to her on Jan 24.

As she was still recovering from her illness, she made a police report at the Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre only on Feb 6.

Reflecting on the incident, Jane said: “I’ve learnt to let go; I just see it as charity, and I assume that whoever took my money needed it more than I did.

“When people ask me about it, I still feel down, but being busy with work helps me to avoid thinking about it.”

Her three sons have been supporting her emotionally, she said.

“One of them told me, ‘No matter what happens, you still have us. Money can be earned again.’ They said they would chip in to pay for the new home as well.”

Jane has since reopened her bank accounts, with her sons’ help.

She said she has learnt not to be intimidated.

“Don’t let scammers control your emotions. Because once they’ve manipulated you, they can easily attack.”

In 2024, there were 1,504 reported cases of government official impersonation scams, with losses amounting to at least $151.3 million.

Most victims who fell for this variant of scams were aged 50 to 64, and they were contacted mostly via phone and WhatsApp.

The Singapore Police Force had in November 2024 warned that scammers were calling victims and posing as officers from ASC or ScamShield.

In some cases, the scammers claimed that the victims’ phone numbers were used for illegal activities linked to investment scams.

ScamShield is in fact an app that helps to identify and alert users to potential scam threats on messaging platforms. Its website includes advisories on the latest scam trends.

The police said that they will never ask for personal details over the phone or messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.

 

[laksaboy]

GNC Secures Arbitration Awards in Cases Against ONI/LAC Global​

September 30, 2024
https://www.gnc.com/learn/newsroom/gnc-arbitration-awards.html

The awards order ONI/LAC Global to pay GNC damages in the amount of US$5.28M for breaching their franchise agreements with GNC in the Philippines, and US$39.39M in net damages for breaching their franchise agreements with GNC in Singapore.

In addition, the Singapore award orders ONI/LAC Global to assign the leases to 54 former GNC stores that ONI/LAC Global inappropriately novated and switched to LAC stores.

Finally, the Tribunal found GNC to be the “prevailing party” in both Philippines and Singapore, and accordingly ordered ONI/LAC Global to pay a total of $8,734,787.15 related to GNC’s attorneys’ and administrative fees.

LAC launches 54 stores in Singapore​

21 May 2022
https://www.lac.sg/en/lac_press-release-21may2022/lac-new.html

About LAC Global

Headquartered in Singapore, LAC Global is one of Asia's largest specialty retailers in nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals, herbal, and other specialty supplements in Anti-ageing and Beauty, Immunity, Weight Management, Sports Nutrition, and Energy

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

At least $17.4m lost to scammers impersonating WeChat, UnionPay, and Alipay staff since January​

At least 678 cases of such impersonation scams have been reported to the authorities this year.

Apr 04, 2025

SINGAPORE – People should be wary of scammers impersonating staff of Chinese messaging and payment platforms, said the authorities, after at least $17.4 million was lost to such scams since January.

In a joint statement on April 4, the police and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said at least 678 cases have been reported this year.

The scam would see victims receiving unsolicited calls from local numbers starting with “8” and “+65” made by people posing as WeChat, UnionPay or Alipay employees, said the authorities.

Victims would typically be told they had an existing subscription that was about to expire and would be prompted to continue the conversation on WhatsApp.

They would be told that fees will be automatically deducted from their bank accounts linked to the platforms unless they cancel their fake subscriptions.

Victims would be asked to verify their bank accounts by transferring money to a specified bank account, said the authorities, who added that the scammers would reassure them that the money would be refunded after the subscription was cancelled.

In a bid to strengthen credibility or pressure victims further, the scammers sometimes sent fake documents of the subscription with the victims’ personal information on them, or directed them to a second scammer posing as an MAS officer.

The fake officer would tell victims that their bank accounts had been used for money laundering purposes and prompt them to transfer money to a specific bank account to assist in fake investigations.

Victims might receive a video call from the scammer dressed in a blue uniform attempting to impersonate an MAS official.

They might also receive fake documents of a court order or an arrest warrant from MAS that has the victims’ details.

The ruse would come to light after the scammers become uncontactable or when victims do not receive a refund.

A fake court order that victims have received.

PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Members of the public should take note that a “+” prefix means that a call comes from an overseas location, said the authorities.

They said MAS officers do not wear uniforms and do not have the power to issue warrants of arrest.

“If you see a uniformed ‘MAS officer’ over WhatsApp who threatens to arrest you, the officer is likely a scammer and should be ignored,” said the authorities.

Government officials will never ask people to transfer money, disclose banking details, or install mobile apps from unofficial app stores, they added.


Officials would also never transfer a call directly to the police, unless you call 995 for life-threatening emergencies.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

‘I thought I could outwit scammers’: Woman who lost over $78,000 to job scam in four days​

Scam victim Ms Lee, who works in sales, was devastated after she lost over $78,000 of her life savings to a job scam.

Apr 06, 2025

SINGAPORE - She was confident that even if she talked to a scammer, she would not fall for their tricks.

Yet, a woman who wanted to be known only as Ms Lee, 48, lost more than $78,000 to a job scam in four days.

Her ordeal in February caused her to lose almost 90 per cent of her life savings.

Job scams were among the top scams of concern in 2024, with victims reporting more than 9,000 cases and losing $156.2 million, according to annual police statistics.

Scammers typically contact the victim on messaging apps, lure the victim into depositing money for a job offering attractive commission rates, then steal the funds.

Ms Lee, who works in sales, said someone using a foreign number contacted her on WhatsApp in late 2024, offering her an online part-time job.

She agreed, as she felt her work was mundane.

Soon, she was contacted by another man named “Charles Khoo” who claimed to be a Malaysian in Singapore, who was married and had a newborn.

Though she suspected it was a scam, Ms Lee decided to play along as she said her life lacked excitement.

The married woman, who has an 18-year-old daughter, added: “I just wanted to disturb the scammers. I thought I could outwit them.”

Ms Lee contacted The Straits Times after reading in March about how the Government was considering caning as punishment for scam-related offences.

Ms Lee was contacted by a man named "Charles Khoo", who claimed to be a Malaysian working in Singapore.

ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

Charm offensive​

Every day over several months, “Charles” sent her encouraging and cheery messages.

Slowly, she came to think of him as a genuine friend, even when he kept on recommending a job to her.

She said: “Every day he would ask, ‘How are you jie (Mandarin for sister). Why don’t you give this online job a try?’ Over time, I figured this must just be some part-time job to earn some side income.”

The purported job required her to place a deposit in cryptocurrency and complete surveys related to about 30 brands, before receiving her deposit back with commission.


On Feb 15, Ms Lee put in about $600 and got back about $700.

Excited by the quick gains, she invested larger amounts over the next few days.

When she was asked to put in more than $11,000 on Feb 18, the cryptocurrency platform paused the transfer and e-mailed her to warn she may have been scammed.

But she still trusted “Charles”, who convinced her to transfer the sum to his boss via PayNow.

She came to her senses when the job required her to invest $120,000, which she did not have.

She had already transferred $78,000, but was told she could not withdraw the sum until the job was completed.

Ms Lee said: “I was devastated and pleaded with them to return my money, my hard-earned savings.”

The scammers refused and suggested she borrow money from the bank or licensed moneylenders.

Eventually, Ms Lee told her family about her predicament.

Over several months, the scammer “Charles Khoo” would send encouraging messages to Ms Lee daily.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MS LEE

Mind games​

Dr John Shepherd Lim, chief well-being officer of the Singapore Counselling Centre, said some people may feel they can outwit scammers as they are tech-savvy and digitally literate. But he cautioned against engaging the scammers.

He said: “These scammers are usually not lone rangers. They are backed by syndicates. They understand psychological vulnerabilities and how people think.”

In Ms Lee’s case, Dr Lim said the scammer preyed on her emotional vulnerability by showering her with attention.

Dr Geraldine Tan, principal registered psychologist at The Therapy Room, called scammers “the best psychologists” as they use psychological techniques to their benefit.

Noting that scammers prey on basic human needs such as love and belonging, Dr Tan said nobody is immune to their tactics.

Their methods include using “mirror neurons”, where they do or say something that shows they are similar to the victim, so the latter feels emotionally safe with them.

For instance, “Charles” told Ms Lee he was also married with a child, said Dr Tan.

She added: “The more the victim interacts with the perpetrator, the more vulnerable they will be. Anything the victim says can be weaponised.”

The incident has gripped Ms Lee with guilt and shame. Her husband was shocked, but did not blame her and accompanied her to the police station to file a report.

The funds she lost were meant to pay for part of their housing loan, which her husband now has to bear alone.

Ms Lee decided to share her story to warn Singaporeans against being complacent.

She said: “Even though you could be a very alert person, you could also fall prey to online scams. This made me learn a very painful lesson that we can never outwit scammers.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Jail for clinic assistant who replaced payment QR code with hers, cheating 509 patients of $55k​

Apr 14, 2025

SINGAPORE – A clinic assistant who replaced the payment QR code that patients scanned at the counter so that the money would go to her instead of the doctor has been sentenced to 14 months’ jail.

Amira Nur Hudah Mohamed, 28, pleaded guilty to an amalgamated charge of cheating on April 14.

In total, Amira cheated 509 victims of over $55,000. Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lee said she gambled away the money on an unlicensed gambling website.

Amira has since made restitution of $3,000.

In January 2023, Amira changed her PayNow name to that of the doctor’s at the clinic to convince patients that payments were being made to the clinic.

Between January and March 2023, she provided 100 patients with her own PayNow number when they wanted to pay for their medical bill.

In April that year, she escalated her scheme. She replaced the payment QR code linked to the doctor’s bank account displayed on the clinic’s counter with one leading to her own bank account.
She did this at the start of her shift and returned the original payment QR code before she knocked off work. This is so that patients would not make payments directly to her bank account when she was not working at the clinic, said DPP Lee.

Amira cheated more than 400 patients via her scheme from April to June 2023.

Her acts came to light when a patient sent the doctor a screenshot of his payment. The doctor noticed that the payment was made to a bank account linked to a mobile number that was not his.

The doctor then reviewed the clinic’s CCTV footage, and a police report was filed.

Seeking a jail term of 14 to 16 months, DPP Lee said there was significant premeditation in Amira’s actions.

“The accused, through her act of swopping the payment QR code placed at the counter of the clinic where she worked, had engaged in criminal conduct that, if not stemmed, would undermine public confidence in the use of technology in settling financial transactions,” he said.

Those convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and are liable to a fine.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

$407,000 lost since December 2024 in OneMotoring phishing scam resurgence in Singapore​

A text message sent by the scammer with an embedded link to phishing payment websites.

Apr 14, 2025

SINGAPORE – The public should be careful if they receive text messages claiming that they have unpaid transport-related bills, the police said on April 14.

This comes with the resurgence of a phishing scam involving a fake OneMotoring website, with at least 37 cases reported since December 2024, and a total of at least $407,000 lost.

OneMotoring is an online portal by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for digital services such as the renewal of road tax and payment of fines, as well as motoring information and traffic updates.


In such scams, victims would receive text messages purporting to be from OneMotoring informing them about unpaid bills.

The text messages contain an embedded link that sends victims to a phishing payment website that mimics the OneMotoring portal.

Text messages sent by the scammer with an embedded link to phishing payment websites.

PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Victims would then be prompted to key in their personal information, credit or debit card details and other sensitive information. They often realise that they have been scammed only when they discover unauthorised transactions on their credit or debit cards.

The police said that messages from LTA regarding unpaid road tax bills do not contain payment links to the OneMotoring website or to payment portals.

Notifications on road tax expiry of vehicles by LTA are sent to vehicle owners through three methods:

• SMSes through the “gov.sg” sender identification
• E-letters deposited into the vehicle owner’s OneMotoring account, which are accessible only via Singpass login
• Letters sent to the vehicle owner’s registered address if they have opted for hard-copy notifications.

In 2024, police scam victims in Singapore lost $1.1 billion, marking a record high amount of losses suffered in a single year.

In total, victims in Singapore have lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019.

 

[k1976]

SG is a Nuclear Superpower-to-be de woh


Singapore

Singapore could be ‘most perfect example’ of a country that needs nuclear energy: IAEA chief​

“Singapore, with its technological base, with its institutional maturity, is ideally, I would say, prepared to host nuclear power relatively soon,” says the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, gives a lecture at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House at the National University of Singapore on Jul 25, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)




Ang Hwee Min
25 Jul 2025 10:21PM (Updated: 27 Jul 2025 06:55PM)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore could be the “most perfect example” of a country that needs nuclear energy given its territorial limitations, energy requirements, technological base and institutional maturity, said the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi on Friday (Jul 25).

The chief of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog was in Singapore as part of the SR Nathan Fellowship, a high-level programme for foreign leaders and prominent individuals to visit the country.

The country on Friday also renewed its agreement with the IAEA to help train experts from developing countries in nuclear research.

Speaking during a lecture and question-and-answer session hosted by the newly launched Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute at the National University of Singapore, Mr Grossi said that Singapore is prepared to host nuclear power “relatively soon”.

 

[Vlad Tepes]

The nuclear plant idea sounds like a scam to offload some shady uranium waste