Irene Ang wakes up to discover that she'd been 'robbed' of $1,000

SINGAPORE - Last month, local artist Irene Ang woke up to discover that her credit card had been used fraudulently.

The head of artist agency Fly Entertainment said that she received a message that morning at about 7am on her phone from the bank, which informed her that the card had been used for a US$1,000 (S$1,250) transaction, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported.

"I was shocked...I didn't go to New York, nor did I buy anything online in my dreams. The credit card was still in my wallet. So I called the bank immediately, and asked for a replacement card."

The bank discovered that the transaction was for theatre tickets in New York. Ang had not been to the United States in four years. The transaction was cancelled by the bank, Wanbao reported.

Ang was also "puzzled" why the fraud did not use her card to purchase more expensive things. "Since he's already used the card...why didn't he buy diamonds with it?"

Ang revealed in the report that this was not her first brush with credit card fraud.

Five years ago, she discovered that her card was used to buy air tickets only when she received her credit card bill.

She said that she had been more careful with her credit card details since then - using only her computers at home and in the office for online purchases and avoiding wireless Internet connections when overseas - but still became a victim a second time.

sinsh@sph.com.sg