Tin Pei Ling alerts public to suspected scammer posing as her non-existent brother

SINGAPORE - MP Tin Pei Ling took to Facebook on Saturday night (July 20) to alert the public to a suspected scammer who was posing as her brother. Ms Tin has no siblings.

In her Facebook post, Ms Tin said that the person was claiming to be her sibling and encouraging people to invest in an investment scheme in China.

Ms Tin added that she found the incident strange as she has no siblings and is an only child.

"I don't see how this so-called investment has got anything to do with me. So if you are ever approached by someone claiming to be my sibling, please be on the alert," she said.

In 2017, about 13 MPs from the People's Action Party were affected by fake Facebook accounts bearing their names and banners.

Ms Tin, who was also one of the MPs affected by the fake accounts, had advised residents on how to spot fake Facebook accounts then.

The accounts were quickly identified, reported and deactivated after the MPs were alerted by grassroots leaders and residents.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/tinpeiling.official/posts/2996376537070887[/embed]

In May this year, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat warned the public of false reports circulating online using his name, including a purported article by CNN reporting false information about his investment in a new company.

In a similar incident the same month, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo alerted the public to a website falsely attributing comments to her in order to get users to sign up for an online platform, provide their credit or debit card details and make a deposit.

The top 10 variants of scams, which include e-commerce scams, loan scams and credit for sex scams rose by about 20 per cent to 5,796 cases in 2018, from the year before.

A total of 417 investment ruse scams were recorded in 2017, and this figure rose to 431 scams in 2018.

Common impersonation scams that have been flagged by the police including scammers pretending to be Chinese officials, officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and company business representatives.

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