SINGAPORE — Scam victims in Singapore lost nearly $1 million in under two weeks to con men who claimed to be working for China-based businesses like Tencent, WeChat or UnionPay.
The police said in a statement on Sept 10 that there have been at least 46 such cases reported since Aug 29, and victims have lost at least $958,000 to these con men.
The latest scam tactic involves victims getting unsolicited phone calls from someone trying to pass off as an employee of a Chinese business, the statement added.
The con man would claim to inform the victims of an expiring free trial of a subscription that they had previously signed up for, such as insurance coverage or WeChat's anti-harassment function.
Victims would then be told that fees would be deducted automatically from the bank accounts linked to the platform, unless they have cancelled the subscription.
The victims would then be asked to check and verify their identities and bank account details by providing their personal information, and transferring money to various bank accounts.
The police said: "The victims were assured that their monies would be refunded upon successful verification.
"In some cases, the scammer would guide the victim using the WhatsApp screen-sharing function, to increase the bank transaction limit and perform the bank transfers."
Sometimes, the con men would pressure the victims to comply with their instructions, or take further steps to pass themselves off as credible.
For instance, they would use tactics like redirecting victims to speak to another person posing as a customer service employee, as well as showing fake employment passes or documents of their alleged subscriptions with the personal information of the victim.
"Most victims would realise that they had been scammed only after making multiple monetary transfers without receiving the promised refunds," the police said.
The police suggested that people use the ScamShield app, set up security features like transaction limits and enable two-factor authentication to guard against falling victim to scams.
They should also check for tell-tale signs of a scam and report any fraudulent transactions to their bank immediately.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
