Singapore woman loses S$16,000 to scammer who posed HSBC staff

SINGAPORE: A 37-year-old woman was scammed out of S$16,000 after she let her guard down on a phone call with a fraudster who posed as an employee of HSBC, one of Singapore’s top banks.

In order to raise public awareness so that others would be prevented from falling for the same ruse, she shared her experience with Shin Min Daily News.

Ms Yan told the Chinese-language daily that the phone call took place on the morning of February 27, with the person on the other line telling her about alleged suspicious transactions on a credit card that they claimed Ms Yan had recently applied for.

She answered that she had not applied for any such card.

However, she was then told by the caller that her Singpass information had been stolen and that the case was being referred to law enforcement for follow-up.

Ms Yan told Shin Min Daily News that several factors caused her to lower her guard. She had lately cancelled a card from HSBC, the caller spoke fluent English with a local accent, and knew her full name and NRIC number.

After that initial call, Ms Yan received another one, this time from someone who posed as a police officer. This caller took her through a number of steps, which ended with her believing that she was involved in a money laundering case worth millions of dollars.

She was also told by the scammers that her case was "highly confidential” and that if she told anyone about it, she would be arrested. Furthermore, if she disclosed details of the case, Ms Yan was told that her bank accounts could be frozen, and that her family could also be implicated.

Ms Yan added that they also sent her many official-looking documents that could not be distinguished from real ones, and that the hour-long phone call she received from the second scammer caused her to get confused and panicked, as well as unable to think clearly or verify anything with someone else.

A "senior police officer" got on the second phone call, telling her that he could help Ms Yan “clear her name” through a “priority investigation.”

However, to do this, she first had to transfer the money she had into a "safe account."

Even though she had doubts, the constant threats, coupled with reassurances that her money would later be put back, caused her to transfer S$16,000 into the "safe account” when the scammers sent her a QR code.

Later, upon realising she had been scammed, Ms Yan filed a police report.

"I have learned from this experience and hope to take this opportunity to urge the public to be wary of scammers and not to trust calls from strangers, especially those involving money transfers. In addition, legitimate investigations will never require individuals to keep their identities confidential from their families. If you encounter a similar situation, you should verify with the relevant authorities to avoid suffering losses,” she was quoted as saying. /TISG

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