Unusual Internet Love Scam

Recently, an internet love scam has created a stir in Singapore.

Yap Siew Ting, 17, and her boyfriend, Alexander Soh Zhi Ren, 21, are being charged over certain crimes. They have managed to persuade victims to appear naked in front of webcam and even masturbate for the girl while they secretly recorded/filmed the process. Eventually, they started extorting money from the victims, threatening them that the videos would be circulated online if they refused to abide to the terms. More than S$100,000 was extorted from the victims.

This is one of the most unusual online scams ever exposed in Singapore. How many people would expect such thing to happen to male victims? Moreover, extortion is always deemed as a major crime in Singapore and thus, most people are quite unlikely to expect it to happen.

This also reflects badly on our society for a 17-year-old girl to showcase her body in the hope of earning trust of her victims. Her boyfriend who is supposed to safeguard her from other guys is making use of her body for the unlawful gain.

Nonetheless, this is a wake-up call for all males not only in Singapore but all over the world.

If you have frequented social networking websites often, you may actually get to see very sexual remarks and requests from guys on girls' profiles. These people are easier to be targeted since they are more open. However, scammmers may prefer potential victims who are less experienced.


We have analysed and pointed out some issues, which guys should take note of.

1. Look into the mirror. Are you so attractive that a girl is dying so badly to see more of you?

2. Hot girls are surrounded by guys, especially when social networking websites are so common; hence, what makes you think the "chiobu" has time to entertain you?

3. Girls in Singapore are generally not as bold as other countries' and do you really think you are this lucky to meet one here?

4. How long have you talked to the girl to make her so fascinated or obsessed over you?

5. Technology is good enough that there are many free screen-capturing software for video-capturing. Besides that, mobile phones with video camera feature is even more common.


Guys really need to reflect on their conducts over the internet. However, girls should also take note of this incident as well.

Is this Email a Scam?

It has been very common to receive weird and interesting emails from your friends these days.

Hackers have many ways to hack into users' emails accounts and mass send scam emails to email addresses in their contact list.

Below is an example of a freshly generated very interesting email:

Hello, How are you? i do hope that you receive this email in good health. I am presently in England London to be with my ill Cousin, he's suffering from a critical uterine fibroid and must undergo a hysterectomy surgery to save his life . I am deeply sorry for not writing or calling you before leaving, the news of his illness arrived to me as an emergency and that he needs family support to keep him going, I hope you understand my plight and pardon me.

I want to transfer him back home to have the surgery implemented there because hysterectomy surgery is very expensive here, Am wondering if you can be of any assistance to me, I need about ($2,500) to make the necessary arrangement; I traveled with little money due to the short time I had to prepare for this trip and never expected things to be the way it is right now. I'll surely pay you back once I get back home, I need to get him home ASAP because he is going through a lot of pain at the moment and the doctor have advised that it necessary that the tumor is operated soon to avoid anything from going wrong. I'll reimburse you at my return.

Is this email a scam?

Obviously, yes, this is a very common online scam tactic.

If your friend is desperate for money, he will be very direct in his email and not waste time giving fanciful greetings. As much as he tries to be polite, he should have greeted you by your name. This email shows that the sender does not even know who you are.

Do not forget about the technology has advanced so fast that there is MSN, Skype, Yahoo Messenger and even social networking sites such as Facebook. If I were in his situation, I would try these media, where I can talk to friends who are online at the point of time, instead of sending email, which the response is likely to be slower.

Do not neglect the usual typing tone of your friend. In Singapore, many people uses Singlish LAH. Do you think your friend has suddenly become proficient in his English language? Many people R nt used to type in proper English animore, dun u tink so?