Overseas Phone Call Scams

Have you been getting phone calls from overseas?



+200034
+67690110
+67690112
+99001

If you have picked up the call by accidental or due to your courage, do let us know how does the scam work. Did the scammer ask you to collect any prize or tell you that your relative is being kidnapped overseas?

If you don't know how to differentiate between overseas and local call, do read on.

Whenever anyone calls you, the number will display a plus "+" on the left, together with the country code (a number). For new number calling you from Singapore, you may see +65 on the left because 65 is Singapore's country code. If you receive a call from your friend without "+65", it may be due to you saving his/her number without it on your phone's address book before that.

Currently, Singapore's numbers consist of eight digits. Numbers beginning with "6" are for residential and office use, while "9" and "8" (newer) are for mobile phone. That means you will only receive calls from your local friend with either eight or 10 (with "65") digits.

Scammers can be tricky enough to use numbers starting with the digits "6" or even "65" to call you. Since residential and office number starts with the digit "6", we may fall into their tricks and think it is a local call.

Do note that it is also possible to fake phone number.

Now, back to the main topic... Whoever knows the real intention of the overseas calls, do update us!

Job Scams Regarding Tan Tock Seng Hospital

Scammers have created fake email address to email to victims regarding job opportunities in Singapore. The scammer would then collect fee from the victims.

Do note that big organisations and companies will have their own domain name in their email addresses. For example, Tan Tock Seng Hospital's domain name is www.ttsh.com.sg and their email addresses will be something like contact@ttsh.com.sg. They will not use free emails such as GMail, Yahoo Mail or Outlook.

By the way, the scammer may also get similar domain names like tssh or ttshospital to trick. When in doubt, always Google for the real website and check with the authority.


From Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Facebook page.

Dear friends,

We wish to alert you of a possible scam, where emails requesting payment for employment opportunities at Tan Tock Seng Hospital were sent to residents in the Philippines. These emails invited interested applicants to attend a supposed 'Tan Tock Seng Hospital Working Visa Interview Coaching' in the Philippines on Aug 3-4. Please note that Tan Tock Seng Hospital did not send out any emails of this nature. The emails are from tantocksenghosp@live.com, which is a bogus email address.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital does not have a consultancy firm in the Philippines, nor do we collect payment from candidates for any training or coaching. Any interest on job opportunities are to be made directly with our Human Resource department at hr_enquiry@ttsh.com.sg.

We have reported this matter to the authorities. Do warn your friends or loved ones who may have received similar emails. Our thanks to those who alerted us to this. Thank you.

Part-time Job Scams For Minor Preys

This is one of the most sickenning scams we have come across so far.

As reported by Channel News Asia, a 22-year-old guy by the name of Emmanuel Lim Chin Pin preyed on young girls using Facebook. His four victims are between the age of 13 to 14.

For his fourth victim, he offered part-time job that paid $25 per hour just to "feedback about massage service". He would then pretend to be the masseuse and make the victim strip off her school uniform before molesting and sexually abusing her.

Everyone should beware of high paying part-time jobs that require you to go into private houses. If you really can't resist the temptation of the money, at least bring a friend along.

We are very sure that similar scam methods will be used sooner or later. In fact, it is very easy to create a fake Facebook account to do it. Please look out for your friends and give necessary help and advice in order to prevent such crazy thing to happen again.

Lastly, we hope the victims will be able to get over the shadows of their lives soon.

Facebook Impersonate Scam to Ask Victim's Friends for Money

We have witnessed many fake social media profiles in both Facebook and Tagged. Most of the accounts are pretty "harmless".

Today, we have been notified about a more unusual impersonate scam (has happened before though) that the scammer is trying to con the victim's friends into "loaning" him/her money.

The victim is Lyndie Ong, https://www.facebook.com/LyndieOng, a Malaysian.







We would like to advise everyone that if you happen to receive a text from a friend whether through social media or SMS to ask for "help", it's better to double confirm by calling the person directly to hear the voice, or even to meet up the person. You will never know who has hacked or stolen your friend's account or even phone.

Stuck-at-Custom Friendship Scams

Below is likely to be a scam. The scammer would pretend to befriend the victim and decide to drop by the victim's country. Then, he would be "trapped" at the custom for whatever reasons and require the victim's financial assistance.

There are many kind souls among us who are willing to offer help to friends. However, we would like everyone to take extra precaution when it comes to any form of help that involves in money. Even your real life friends may not return you the money you loan to them, what makes you think an online friend from another country will return?




Hi all,

I came across this blog, read the stories, and thought I should share mine. It is not 100% certified as a scam case, but I am at least 99% sure. Do tell me what you think after reading.

It all began when I downloaded an app called PlanetRomeo to my iPhone. It's a gay hook-up app, so to speak.

One fine day, I got a message from this guy. He first asked me how was the weather in Singapore, and we started chatting from there. We hit it off straightaway.

He said he was from Cardiff, UK, and said that his current project would end soon, and his next project would be at Australia. He claimed that he was looking for a friend to hang out with during the 3 weeks between his current project in the UK, and the next one at Perth.

So I found out from him when he would be arriving and all the details, and waited in anticipation for his arrival.

The fateful day arrived.

Tuesday, 18 June, 2013.
I received a call from an unknown number at around 12+ pm. It was him! I nearly had a heart attack, thinking that he had arrived in Singapore.

Sadly, no, he was not in Singapore. He told me that he was stuck at the KL customs. When I asked him why, he told me he was carrying a large amount of cash, and that his cash had been confiscated by the authorities. He needed 2600 Malaysian Ringgit to pay for an anti-money laundering certificate. He said he had only 1200 Malaysian Ringgit in his wallet, and asked if I could send him the balance. I did.

Well, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013.
Another call was received from him, at around the same time. This time, he asked for 1800 Malaysian Ringgit. He claimed that the customs officer's boss needed him to pay this amount for some form of insurance. So I obliged.

Thursday, 20 June, 2013.
Wow, another call. This time, he said he needed 800 Malaysian Ringgit to pay for some endorsement that will enable him to pass through the Singapore customs without being stopped again because of his cash.

I remitted the money, and a few hours later, he called me again, and said that it should be 800 Singapore Dollars instead. Well, what could I do? I helped again.

Friday, 21 June, 2013.
What needed to be done now was for him to check that his luggage had not been tampered with, and that his cash was all intact.

He asked for 2800 Malaysian Ringgit, saying that he needed to purchase some Swif Code that will enable him to open his luggage to check.

I started getting suspicious, and googled to find out what was a Swif Code - I did not find any information on it.

Stupidly thinking that this would be the last hurdle, I remitted this amount accordingly.

He told me that he had managed to contact his kid sister in the US, and she will be remitting some money to my account

Saturday, 22 June, 2013.
I got an email from this lady, who attached the PDF copies of the transaction she did at the Bank of America. It was a wire transfer for an amount of USD 5000. Transaction was done on Fri, 21 June, 2013, US timing 9 or 10am. It was called a Payment Advice. Of course, I was more reassured with this so-called "proof".

Back to him. Well, he had the Swif Code, but before they could release his luggage back to him, he needed to pay for some customs overstay, which was quite a big amount. I can't remember how much it was, but I paid up accordingly.

Sunday, 23 June, 2013.
No news.

Monday, 24 June, 2013.
He called and told me he was not able to leave on Saturday, although I had already remitted the funds, because the office that was supposed to clear him to leave for Singapore was open half day. He needed more money for overstay.

Tuesday, 25 June, 2013.
I remitted some money via Western Union to him to pay for the overstay, but for some reason, the KL Western Union machine had some problems, and he could not get that funds. The airport officer told me that because this is a machine fault, he will not be charged for the overstay from 25 June - 12 pm on 26 June.

He also claimed that he had spoken to someone from the UK embassy, and told the person about his circumstances.

Wednesday, 26 June, 2013.
Got an SMS from the airport officer, saying that they had booked an evening flight for him.

I was overjoyed, because I thought I would finally be able to meet him, and get my money back.

My happiness was short-lived.

Shortly after the SMS from the airport officer, he called, and said that they were going to charge him for the overstay... I was speechless.

Desperately, I checked my bank account to see if his sister's funds have come through - no, no news at all.

Anyway, the conclusion: I dished out around S$7500, most of which was borrowed from friends and family, to help this man. My only hope is that the USD 5000 would come in accordingly...