Money Begging Scams

We have just received a scam alert regarding begging for money.

Hi,

I have 2 scams to report. Both involve a Malay auntie.

1. Sometime in 2012 I was going home as usual. I went to withdraw money from the atm at Compass Point to buy dinner for my family. As I was walking away, I was approached by this Malay auntie in a tudung, dragging 3 kids with her. The oldest was about teenaged and looked deeply unhappy.

The auntie gave me her sob story, about how she had no money and she came all the way here because her friend borrowed money from her and was going to return it but said that she had waited with her kids since 12pm and she still wasn't there by 5pm. I got impatient with her as I started suspecting it was a scam, so I asked how much she wanted. She said ten dollars to take a cab home as they had spent all their money to get there.

I looked at her children and struggled for a long time but in the end I gave it to her since it's just $10. I gave it to her for her children because I was sure they had no choice and looked so unhappy. Anyway I'm sure it is a scam so if you come across such an auntie beware and tell her that you'll help ask the security guard to help her, chances are she will scurry away.

2. My colleague told me about this Malay auntie who scammed him by claiming her ATM card is chipped, and that she needs money to visit her sick relative in hospital. He gave money to her but a few months later bumped into the same woman, who had forgotten him. She ran the same line by him and he asked her, "4 months ago your atm card chipped now chipped again?" and she walked away quickly.


Please never give money to such sob stories chances are it's fake. Always offer to call the security guard to help them and see their reaction. If you are near a police station, offer to bring them to the police to help them.

Thanks.

Do note that there are similar scams happening since long time ago. Ten years ago, I had personally met one at Cityhall area and the scammer was a Chinese. Anyone, regardless of race, gender, language and religion could have done these for the sake of money.

Sadly, kind souls are usually the victims. How many of you have decided not to lend a helping hand just because you are afraid of being conned?

If you happen to meet such people on the street, do not turn soft easily just because they sound pitiful. Do refer them to the security or police for help. $10 may be little to some people but others may need to work two to three hours in order to get the money. You do not want any kind soul to be conned and lose their hard earned money.

Begging Scam

From Facebook posted by Farhan Osman:

A warning to all my fellow Singaporeans.

Please be aware of this man.
My friends have met this guy for four times and all of the instances are of the same content of scam.

Recently, a friend met this person at the bus stop outside West Mall. Here are the exact words from my friend. “He suddenly came to the bus stop I was at and he pretended to faint and said he was having an asthma attack and was looking for his asthma inhaler and he lived at Tampines and without it he can’t make his way home as he might pass out anytime.” My friend then decided to call for him an ambulance but he refused.

In another instance, he was inside Tampines MRT station, with the same asthma attack drama and my friend was nice enough to accompany him out of the station to hire a taxi. He then asked my friend for money, but when my friend said he had no money with him, he scolded my friend.

What the person expects you to do is to give him some money for sympathy to take a taxi or to a doctor.

If we don’t do anything, others could possibly get cheated. So please do share.

There are just too many ways scammers can do get money from kind-hearted people.

Beggar Scams - PRC Old Lady

Translated from Chinese (pardon us if there is any mistake):

"Daughter is suffering from Leukemia"

"Female beggar makes a hundred dollar per hour"

"Came to Singapore from China and is being accused of gaining sympathy"

A few weeks ago, there was this news of a PRC lady who was begging on the street. We are not sure if she is genuine about her sick daughter even though many people think that it is weird for her to be able to afford the air ticket to travel from China.

Like what we have mentioned in one of our entries about the begging scam, passers-by should help the poor in the long run by contacting the town council, member of parliament or MCYS to help them. If you give a person a fish, he can live for a few days, but if you teach him how to fish, he can live for many years.

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.

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.