As reported by various presses in Singapore, a 32-year-old Nigerian was arrested by the Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for series of internet love scams. He was extradited to Singapore on 11 April 2012.
The scammer would befriend female victims through online dating and social networking websites. He would then try to start fake love relationships with the ladies. He would pretend to visit Singapore and claim to be detained at the Checkpoint, after which, he would request the victims to remit money to certain bank accounts so that he could be released.
If you are a victim of such scam or have a friend who has fallen prey to such scammer, do contact us with your contact details. We will update the reporters who are working on internet love scams news so that they can contact you to find out more in order to educate the public. Your particulars will be kept confidential.
Your kind assistance will be very appreciated by everyone.
|
The consolidation of scam stories by you. Get scam alert so that you won't be a victim of fraud deception in Singapore. |
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Facebook Scam - Sharing Image - Flies Will Move
The image's description reads: "按share，你就会看到他们在走动!"
Direct translation to English: Press share, you will see them move.
By sharing any item on Facebook, Facebook does not display any special effect. The image is just a static image, which will not move.
Sharing the image will not harm you, your computer or privacy, but you may be mocked by others.
This can be considered as a prank, unless the person who posts or re-posts it has the intention of drawing people to his/her profile for marketing purpose.
The image is posted by a Facebook user Cindy Yow. We are not able to identify if she the originator of the prank/scam.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Scam Alert: Facebook Fake Profiles
There are some very obvious misuse of photos by a few Facebook users. In other words, these are Facebook fake profiles.
1. Rachel Tan
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003252601897
Photos belong to Yuhong and friend
2. Val See
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001716408537
Photos belong to Priscilla
3. Xiao Xue
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003291364968
Photos belong to Yinghui
The owners of the photos, all Singaporeans, were informed about the scammers but it seems like Facebook is too well-pampered by the extra fake count of users.
1. Rachel Tan
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003252601897
Photos belong to Yuhong and friend
2. Val See
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001716408537
Photos belong to Priscilla
3. Xiao Xue
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003291364968
Photos belong to Yinghui
The owners of the photos, all Singaporeans, were informed about the scammers but it seems like Facebook is too well-pampered by the extra fake count of users.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Fake Beggar Scam on Wheelchair
We have heard about a scam through "aunties-to-aunties story" regarding a male elderly. He usually loiters near Bukit Merah Polyclinic in a wheelchair to beg passers-by for money. There are a couple of very distinctive things he has done that may be very annoying to many people.
These are not the reasons why we would label him as a scammer. We were told that policemen had managed to locate his house at Redhill area and his neighbour had claimed that the man would usually wear shabbily in his wheelchair out to do his "business", and then return home to shower and go out on feet.
This means that the man is simply taking advantage of others' kindness by pretending to be in a sorry state.
We cannot confirm the truthfulness of this incident. Kind souls who happen to drop by Bukit Merah Polyclinic can try to check out with the nurses and confirm with us - we will really appreciate the help.
We cannot allow such bad incident defer our determination to help the needy. However, we would really want everyone to know that there is always a proper way to help people.
You give someone a fish and you can save him from starving for a day, but if you were to teach him how to fish instead, you can save him from starving for the rest of his life.
Our Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, has promised that he would never let anyone behind while our country progresses. Therefore, if you want to help someone, instead of giving him money, approach the appropriate welfare departments or organisations. If you are not sure whom to look for, simply visit at Reach.gov.sg or even the town council. You can also drop an email to the member of parliament in charge of the area.
Incident one:
A kind woman sympathized with him and offered him $10. The next thing he did was to ask the woman to give him another $10.
We have seen quite a number of less fortunate people around in Singapore. Most of them will appreciate it even if you were to give them just a few coins. $10 is quite a big sum for a kind soul to offer to a stranger and this is the first time we have heard of a "beggar" asking for more.
Incident two:
The man stopped a group of students and asked them for money. The students rejected him because they were not well-to-do. However, he started asking them to chip in money together to offer him.
We believe this has been overdone to students.
These are not the reasons why we would label him as a scammer. We were told that policemen had managed to locate his house at Redhill area and his neighbour had claimed that the man would usually wear shabbily in his wheelchair out to do his "business", and then return home to shower and go out on feet.
This means that the man is simply taking advantage of others' kindness by pretending to be in a sorry state.
We cannot confirm the truthfulness of this incident. Kind souls who happen to drop by Bukit Merah Polyclinic can try to check out with the nurses and confirm with us - we will really appreciate the help.
We cannot allow such bad incident defer our determination to help the needy. However, we would really want everyone to know that there is always a proper way to help people.
You give someone a fish and you can save him from starving for a day, but if you were to teach him how to fish instead, you can save him from starving for the rest of his life.
Our Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, has promised that he would never let anyone behind while our country progresses. Therefore, if you want to help someone, instead of giving him money, approach the appropriate welfare departments or organisations. If you are not sure whom to look for, simply visit at Reach.gov.sg or even the town council. You can also drop an email to the member of parliament in charge of the area.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Free Zoo Tickets Scam - Phone Scam
Recently, there are cases of people being rang up regarding free Singapore Zoological Gardens tickets. The caller has claimed that the owner of the phone number has won free tickets to the Singapore Zoo but they have to reveal their identification (IC) numbers and other details in order to get the tickets. Since the scammer may have taken the phone number from the phone directory, the scammer may also know victim's name, which make the scam look more convincing.
The Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which runs the Singapore Zoo has announced that the free tickets distribution is a hoax.
This could be either a prank to make the victims to go down all the way to the Zoo to collect their "free" tickets or simply a scam to steal their IC numbers.
We are not sure what can the scammer do with the name, IC and phone numbers of the victims. It may be useful in cracking SingPass since the login requires the user's IC number, together with a password, and the user may have used his/her phone number as the password. Similar to some Internet Banking, IC number is the login. The scammer may also collect the IC number before lying low temporary and strike the victim off-guarded - there are new scam methods emerging everyday and do expect the unexpected.
If this scam is purely a prank, the scammer has probably done the Singapore Zoo a big favour for the free marketing. McDonald's place advertisements every now and then to create an impression on the public and the Singapore Zoo will definitely need it as well and they get it for free this time. Victims may also lead their family members down to collect the "free" tickets and they will eventually buy the tickets since they are already there. Many families in Singapore are busy with work and will rarely find time to get together. We hereby represent Singapore Zoo and the affected victims to thank the scammer.
Nevertheless, we would like to urge the public not to be easily taken in by such phone scam. Do not trust a caller completely. If you have won a prize from a big company, they will mail you a letter instead. And also, a decent company does not even need you to verify yourself since it is not a guess-and-win phone game. Please feel odd when the caller starts asking you for sensitive information. Big companies will also not use private number to call you.
We would encourage the public not to take up any random street survey, which the surveyor may lead you to provide your details.
The Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which runs the Singapore Zoo has announced that the free tickets distribution is a hoax.
This could be either a prank to make the victims to go down all the way to the Zoo to collect their "free" tickets or simply a scam to steal their IC numbers.
We are not sure what can the scammer do with the name, IC and phone numbers of the victims. It may be useful in cracking SingPass since the login requires the user's IC number, together with a password, and the user may have used his/her phone number as the password. Similar to some Internet Banking, IC number is the login. The scammer may also collect the IC number before lying low temporary and strike the victim off-guarded - there are new scam methods emerging everyday and do expect the unexpected.
If this scam is purely a prank, the scammer has probably done the Singapore Zoo a big favour for the free marketing. McDonald's place advertisements every now and then to create an impression on the public and the Singapore Zoo will definitely need it as well and they get it for free this time. Victims may also lead their family members down to collect the "free" tickets and they will eventually buy the tickets since they are already there. Many families in Singapore are busy with work and will rarely find time to get together. We hereby represent Singapore Zoo and the affected victims to thank the scammer.
Nevertheless, we would like to urge the public not to be easily taken in by such phone scam. Do not trust a caller completely. If you have won a prize from a big company, they will mail you a letter instead. And also, a decent company does not even need you to verify yourself since it is not a guess-and-win phone game. Please feel odd when the caller starts asking you for sensitive information. Big companies will also not use private number to call you.
We would encourage the public not to take up any random street survey, which the surveyor may lead you to provide your details.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Scam Alert: Tagged Fake Profiles
Below are some Tagged profiles that are using non-Singaporeans' photos but they all claim that they are staying in Singapore.
http://www.tagged.com/profile.html?uid=5453614060
http://www.tagged.com/profile.html?uid=5412891925
http://www.tagged.com/profile.html?uid=5410374143
We are not sure of their motives but they do not seem to be very active in Tagged anymore.
Do take note of them if you have them added as friends in Tagged.com or Hi5.com.
We are not sure of their motives but they do not seem to be very active in Tagged anymore.
Do take note of them if you have them added as friends in Tagged.com or Hi5.com.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Phone Kidnapping Scam
Someone has requested The Online Citizen to pass on this scam alert to the public. We are not able to confirm the news.
This piece of news arrives during this period of time when the police is still investigating the attempted kidnap reports but there is definitely no link between them.
It has been a known fact that such phone kidnapping scam has long existed. Even the recently ended drama show on channel 8 "Rescue 995" starred by Yvvone Lim, Fang Zhan Fa, Tay Ping Hui and Ou Xuan has a scene that Yvvone Lim's brother (in the show) tried to scam their grandma together with his friends.
This is a kind of confidence trick. The scammer would claim that his team has kidnapped the victim's child or grandchild. As the victim loses her calm, the "kidnapper" would make her "son" or "grandson" to cry for help. It is not easy to verify the voice over phone, especially when the source of screaming is a distance away from the scammer's phone. Moreover, when the victim is in a shock, there is a higher tendency that she would fall for the hoax.
People who are sharp enough would have tried to call the "hostage" to check. However, there are cases that the victims' relatives cannot be reached, they take in the scammers' words and hand over the "ransom".
It seems that the scammers are doing random calling to pick up their victims. We have heard from a targeted person staying in HDB flat that after she slammed the phone years back, the scammer did not bother to call her back. Her neighbour was, in fact, targeted within the same day as well.
Since the use of mobile phone is common, it is definitely easy for anyone to call her relative to check the status to confirm that the caller is a scammer. Everyone should remind the elderly at home about such kidnap hoax so that they will not fall for the trick.
New ideas would emerge everyday and the scammer may put in more "dressing" to the scam. Everyone should always stay vigilant.
From TheOnlineCitizen:
A citizen allowed us to share this information with the public
< My mum got a call 9:30 this morn fr no 0092357658. A man claimed he had jus kidnapped her daughter(me). Then follows a lady crying on the phone in mandarin "妈妈 妈妈 快救我 快救我 出事了 出事了＂the man then continue to say he had just killed someone and is on the run. He needs 20k to flee. He ask for my mum's location n if she's alone in the office. Later when he heard voices of her colleagues, he got angry and said "you lied that you r alone, now I am going to kill ur daughter. Come collect her body in 2 mins" >
The mum who received the call on last friday made a report on the night itself to the Singapore police. Do be advised on such scams and warn elderly parents who would need to be alert to such occurrences. Callers are from overseas and will get victims to do money transfer via western union which makes it difficult for police to track.
This piece of news arrives during this period of time when the police is still investigating the attempted kidnap reports but there is definitely no link between them.
It has been a known fact that such phone kidnapping scam has long existed. Even the recently ended drama show on channel 8 "Rescue 995" starred by Yvvone Lim, Fang Zhan Fa, Tay Ping Hui and Ou Xuan has a scene that Yvvone Lim's brother (in the show) tried to scam their grandma together with his friends.
This is a kind of confidence trick. The scammer would claim that his team has kidnapped the victim's child or grandchild. As the victim loses her calm, the "kidnapper" would make her "son" or "grandson" to cry for help. It is not easy to verify the voice over phone, especially when the source of screaming is a distance away from the scammer's phone. Moreover, when the victim is in a shock, there is a higher tendency that she would fall for the hoax.
People who are sharp enough would have tried to call the "hostage" to check. However, there are cases that the victims' relatives cannot be reached, they take in the scammers' words and hand over the "ransom".
It seems that the scammers are doing random calling to pick up their victims. We have heard from a targeted person staying in HDB flat that after she slammed the phone years back, the scammer did not bother to call her back. Her neighbour was, in fact, targeted within the same day as well.
Since the use of mobile phone is common, it is definitely easy for anyone to call her relative to check the status to confirm that the caller is a scammer. Everyone should remind the elderly at home about such kidnap hoax so that they will not fall for the trick.
New ideas would emerge everyday and the scammer may put in more "dressing" to the scam. Everyone should always stay vigilant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)