‘I actually started believing them’: How a foreign student fell victim to a good fake China official scam
26 May, 2021
When Sam (certainly not his real brand) received a phone call from someone claiming to end up being from DBS, little or nothing could have prepared him for the strange twist of events that could unfold.
The caller said that his DBS card “was associated with a significant financial issue and they would transfer me to cops in Beijing to help resolve the problem", said the 21-year-old undergraduate from China who's studying in Singapore.
Unconvinced, Sam hung up following his phone was transferred.
“I didn't believe it … but they called me personally again using a quantity that, when I Googled, showed that it had been from a Beijing law enforcement department,” he said.
“They video-called me wearing police attire and their background looked like a police station,” Sam told reporters on, may 23 (Sunday).
The men then told Sam that he owed S$10,000, reassuring him that they might investigate and help get his cash back.
They kept touching Sam through calls and WhatsApp messages, occasionally video-calling him.
“Steadily, I started believing them,” said Sam.
Then things all of the sudden took a dramatic switch.
The same men allegedly told Sam that he was involved with a serious financial crime by a syndicate. They informed him to cut off get in touch with with his friends and family, and live someplace else for a few days while they investigated, he added.
Sam left his home and checked right into a resort along Upper Serangoon Highway after receiving a parcel containing S$500, a mobile phone and a resort key cards. The scammers then advised him to pose before a video call while gagged and blindfolded.
This is for an “X-ray” photography that might be used for comparison with “investigation findings” in China, the scammers had allegedly said.
By this time his father and mother, who are located in China, felt like something was wrong.
“We couldn’t call him on, may 15 and thought that he ought to be back the next day,” Sam’s father told reporters in the same interview.
When Sam didn't return home on May 16, they filed a missing person statement with the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
Unaware of the missing person’s article, Sam moved out of the hotel and right into a Housing Plank flat in Clementi a few days later beneath the instructions of the males who called him.
Presently there, he met three people - a 61-year-aged man, his wife and their tenant.
“The 1st time I met him, (the 61-year-old gentleman) asked me whether I was sent here by Chinese cops,” said Sam. “Therefore, I believed him,” he added.
Sam said he spent his period watching Television shows, ordering meals and sometimes, even handmade cards with the man’s wife.
Sam’s daddy said that these were mentally preparing themselves for a couple outcomes - “a major accident, a scam or a good kidnap”.
ON, MAY 20 at around 7am, Sam’s parents received a call with the video of Sam blindfolded and gagged. The sender demanded his parents shell out six million yuan (about S$1.24 million) in ransom.
The video message, seen by CNA, carried an music message. A man’s tone of voice could be heard, stating in Mandarin, “Kid, don’t be frightened, I won’t hurt you. Listen up, as long as your parents pay for up you don’t have to worry about other things. Eventually, we will let go you, but this is as well up to your father and mother.”
Screenshot of messages and video delivered to the victim’s parents.
“Now we be aware of it really is fake, but … it had been scary,” said Sam’s dad, adding that he contacted SPF and the Chinese consulate in Singapore.
Law enforcement conducted investigations and finally found Sam a few hours later. They told him that he previously been a victim of a bad scam.
TWO MEN INVOLVED IN SCAM SUSPECTED TO BE VICTIMS THEMSELVES
The authorities arrested the 33-year-old man, who had handed the telephone and money to Sam, for his alleged involvement in the China official impersonation scam, said SPF in a news release on Wednesday.
Who owns the HDB flat, the 61-year-old man, happens to be under investigation.
Preliminary investigations revealed that both men, who are unrelated to each other, may also have been victims of a scam, said the police.
The 33-year-old man had allegedly received S$1,000 from scammers to greatly help stage Sam’s “disappearance”. He bought the mobile phone and SIM cards for the victim’s communication with the scammer and booked the accommodation. These were all allegedly performed on the scammer’s guidance, said the police.
Meanwhile, the 61-year-old man was as well believed to have been tricked into convinced that he was casing a crucial witness for a law enforcement investigation.
Anyone found guilty of cheating could possibly be jailed up to a decade and fined.
Those found guilty of the offence of money laundering could possibly be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.
Last year, a total of 443 cases of China recognized impersonation scams were reported, with victims cheated greater than S$39 million. It marked a small reduce from 2019, which noticed 456 such cases reported.
"The China police, Interpol and other overseas law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction or powers to conduct procedure in Singapore,” said Superintendent of Law enforcement Steven Tan, brain of the anti-scam investigation branch.
“They also have no powers to ask members of the general public to help them with any sort of investigation without the approval of the Singapore Government,” he added.
- Ignore such cell phone calls and the caller’s guidelines, especially those who declare that they are overseas officials such as for example China Police, Interpol Law enforcement or other overseas police agencies
- For foreigners receiving calls from people claiming to be the authorities from their home country, call up the embassy or Large Commission to verify the statements of the caller
- Refrain from offering personal information and bank particulars, whether on the site or to callers over the phone
- For more information on scams, members of the general public can check out scamalert.sg or contact the anti-scam hotline at 1800 722 6688.
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