19-year-old student forced to provide nude videos following ransom demands

SINGAPORE - Police thwarted a ruse to extort ransom from the parents of a 19-year-old Chinese student here who had been tricked by scammers impersonating Singapore and China officials and threatening her with deportation.

The victim received a call in early April from someone claiming to be an officer from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) who accused her of spreading misinformation on Covid-19 in Guangzhou, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Wednesday.

The victim was then diverted to another scammer pretending to be a police officer from China. As part of purported investigations, the victim was made to report to “Chinese officers” in real time through continuous video calls 24/7 over a messaging app on her mobile phone.

The scammer told the victim that she might be deported to China to face prosecution if she did not furnish “bail” of one million yuan (S$200,000).

As she did not have the money, she was told to record and provide nude videos of herself to prove her innocence in a separate so-called criminal case.

She complied out of fear.

On April 17, the scammer instructed the victim to isolate herself and stop all communication with others so that they could carry out their “investigations”.

On the instruction of the scammers, the victim took a video recording of herself in torn clothing and with her hands tied up, as if she had been held hostage. She was told the video would be used to lure out and arrest syndicate members.

However, the scammers sent the video to the victim’s parents in China, along with a ransom demand.

The parents later contacted the victim’s teacher in Singapore, who reported the incident to the police. The police tracked the victim down within six hours at Woodlands Checkpoint. SPF declined to say why she was there.

In a similar case in September 2022, a 16-year-old Chinese national was tricked into staging a hostage situation to frighten his mother, after he was accused of smuggling contraband cigarettes into Singapore and other offences. He was told to smear ketchup all over himself to make the video look realistic.

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The teenager had received a call from a “Ministry of Health officer” here accusing him of smuggling as well as spreading Covid-19 rumours in China.

Separately in the same month, a 21-year-old woman was arrested for her alleged involvement in a kidnapping scam. The victim, also 21, had also been coerced into recording a video of herself with her hands and legs tied, which scammers used to solicit more than $350,000 in “ransom” from her parents in China.

SPF reiterated that overseas law-enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigation without the approval of the Singapore Government.

The police also reminded people to be wary of phone calls from unknown numbers, with or without the “+” prefix, and to refrain from giving out personal information and bank details to callers over the phone.

Anyone who suspects he is being scammed should inform the authorities, family and friends about it and not be pressured by the caller to act impulsively.

Those who have information relating to such crimes may call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit it at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

For more information on scams, visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.