HE thought he had found a shortcut to riches - but it ended up sucking him dry and leaving him in serious debt.

Mr Mohamed S, 30, fell victim to not one, but two online scams similar to the infamous Nigerian e-mail swindle.

The scam has been played out numerous times: Help release funds from a certain country or bank and get a sizeable cut.

Between 2004 and 2006, the bachelor shelled out $330,000 - $80,000 of his own and his immediate family, and the remaining $250,000 from two business associates, one of whom lent him $220,000.

Now, over a year later and a lot wiser, he wants to tell others of his ordeal so they do not fall into the same trap.

Mr Mohamed has kept the various money transfer receipts to prove that he had indeed remitted more than $300,000.

He said he was sucked in because he was down and out when the 'offers' came.

The fitness instructor had a $12,000 debt from operating an Indian food stall formerly owned by his stepfather.

He said: 'After just four months of business, the debt came up to $12,000. I had no choice but to close it down.'

Around the same time, he received an e-mail promising him 40per cent of US$4.5 million ($6.2m) if he helped someone in Ivory Coast in Africa transfer money out of a bank.

Although the US$1.8m carrot sounded too good to be true, MrMohamed wasn't suspicious because he had not read about such scams then.

The e-mail was sent by a woman called 'Mariam Musa' who claimed she needed help to transfer the money out of Ivory Coast.

Enticed, Mr Mohamed replied to the e-mail.

Soon after, a 'law firm' in the Ivory Coast contacted him.

He had to send US$2,000 to the other party, which claimed it would be acting on Mr Mohamed's behalf to effect the transfer.

Later, Mr Mohamed was told to send another US$2,050. He did as he was told.

To draw him deeper into the scam, the crooks even mailed him laminated certificates that were supposedly issued by the authorities in Ivory Coast to prove that Mariam Musa was of sound character.

As he waited for the money, another party, calling itself 'Ecowas Finance Monitoring Unit', contacted him by e-mail stating that it was illegal to transfer money out of the Ivory Coast without permission.

It said Mr Mohamed had to get a clearance certificate costing $10,000.

So Mr Mohamed sent the money through a Western Union money transfer, just as he did for otherpayments.

This pattern was to be repeated many times.

Each time a new agency would step in, telling Mr Mohamed he needed to pump in more money before the final transfer can take place.

Through all these transactions, he said he didn't suspect anything because he thought he was merely overcoming various obstacles posed by red tape before he could get his hands on the money.

By August 2004, Mr Mohamed had run out of money.

Even then, he didn't suspect anything.

His family then chipped in. His mother, aunt and sister lent him their savings and also sold their jewellery to help him raise funds.

WANTS TO SELL FLAT

Mr Mohamed, who lives with his mother, even wanted to sell her four-room HDB flat to raise more cash.

A housing agent then agreed to lend him $28,000.

In all, Mr Mohamed spent about $260,000 on the scam.

A few months after Mariam Musa's offer, Mr Mohamed received another offer, also via e-mail message.

It came from a person called'Luisa'.

'Luisa said she had a consignment of cold, hard cash in the Philippines,' recalled Mr Mohamed.

'There was US$30m. I was promised almost half the sum if I agreed to help Luisa collect the money and keep it with me for a month.

'But to take the money out of the Philippines, I had to pay to take the cash out of its storage facility.

'Also, to get past the country's customs, I was told to pay bribes.'

In all, Mr Mohamed paid $70,000 for this second scam.

Ironically, he thought the second scheme was a good way to provide money to support the first scheme from the Ivory Coast.

He roped in an acquaintance who agreed to provide money for the two schemes.

Mr Mohamed said: 'Like me, he thought he could make money from them. We agreed to split the money if we received it.

'After we realised we were cheated, he didn't ask me to return his money because he knew I had no money.

'Right now, I am repaying the housing agent's $28,000 by instalments.'

Mr Mohamed did not go to the police as he felt that doing so would not get him back the money.

He came to The New Paper to share his story after receiving several similar e-mail messages recently.

He showed us more than 20 Western Union money transfer receipts.

Mr Mohamed said: 'I realised only last year that I was cheated after reading reports of such scams in the newspapers.

NO MORE MESSAGES

'Also, after a while, I stopped receiving any e-mail messages for the two schemes.

'Now, I'm getting over 80 e-mail messages promising similar things.

'I just want to warn others against falling into such traps.

'For two years, I did nothing but wake up and check my e-mail inbox.

'I really thought I would be rich. But now I know that if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.'

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Victims promised a share in locked-up millions

THE notorious Nigerian scam promises potential victims a share of millions of dollars locked away in banks.

Those who get the e-mail are asked to help someone, typically in Africa, to transfer money out of a bank or a country.

But in all cases, money is required from the victims before the 'transfers' can take place.

In 2006, 12 Singaporeans were cheated of $676,400 through such scams, police figures showed.

Five were scammed of $327,000 in 2005 and seven lost $78,400 in 2004.

In 2003, five victims were cheated of $2 million.