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. - Photo: ST
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 S$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 worth 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, 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.
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, 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, 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.
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 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 Tuesday (Jan 7), 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.” - The Straits Times/ANN
