PUBLISHED ONDecember 29, 2024 8:00 AMByCrystal TanLocal veteran singer Wu Gang has lost nearly $300,000 after being defrauded twice in alleged online scams.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News on Friday (Dec 27), Wu Gang, 76, shared that he'd come across a post early this year claiming to teach financial management and investment courses online for free.
Thinking he could make a considerable profit, do charity and feed his thirst for knowledge all at the same time, he clicked to sign up.
Wu Gang, who rose to fame in the '70s, stated that he had been lured by an ad which listed the achievements of several financial experts.
"I was invited to a group chat where I was instructed about financial management and investment every day," he said.
He told Shin Min that the group chat had more than 10 members, but he's unsure if they were victims like him or part of the scheme.
He added that the group was told to invest using a particular website, and that 10 per cent of their profits would be deducted "for charity".
"They will tell us which time is the best investment time, such as between 3pm and 5pm," said Wu Gang, who was led to believe that they were being taught investment secrets to make higher profits.
Wu Gang revealed that he'd invested nearly $200,000, and while he had appeared to reap some profits at the beginning, they were simply numbers on a screen.
His suspicions grew when he was met with numerous excuses as to why his money could not be withdrawn.
Wu Gang eventually made a police report and left the group.
However, Wu Gang unwittingly fell victim to a second suspected scam just months later in October this year.
He told Shin Min that at he had joined an online wholesale trading platform at the recommendation of a Facebook friend.
"It looked like a proper platform and the interactions seemed normal, so I joined," said Wu Gang, who was told he was the owner of an online store and had to fulfil customers' orders.
"I worked hard to achieve sales but just as before, all the profits were only on paper," he shared.
When he wanted to quit the platform, he was once again given multiple excuses why he could not do so, such as the docking of points due to customers' complaints.
"We are given points for each successful transaction and we need to have 100 points to quit the platform. But whenever we want to do so, they will tell us that we had lost points due to a customer's complaint and had to replenish our points through a cash top-up," he explained.
Sensing something amiss, he quit the platform and made another police report.
In the interview with Shin Min, Wu Gang said he'd lost close to $300,000 in total.
He also warned members of the public to be vigilant and to not believe any advertisements on social media to avoid falling victim to similar scams.
"I have been so unlucky this year to fall for such scams, and twice in a row, too. They have caused me significant harm and I've lost all my capital; I've no more tears left to cry," he lamented.
