Sex scammers prey on victims' desires

Before last week, he had never heard of iTunes.

But that didn't stop Mike (not his real name) from buying $6,300 worth of iTunes gift cards for a "girl".

Last Saturday, The New Paper reported that this year, over 200 men here have fallen prey to such credit-for-sex scams.

And the number is rising. Last month alone, 141 cases were reported.

The ruse involves scammers, who claim to be young and attractive women on social media, enticing men to buy online credit for them in exchange for sexual favours. (See report on facing page.)

The scam seems simple enough but what makes victims willing to fork out money for someone they don't know or haven't even met?

Scammers target basic human needs and desires like greed and the desire to be liked, explained Mr Jeffery Chin, 34, a senior psychologist at the Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre.

SOCIAL ESCORT

In Mike's case, the scammer identified herself as Sisi and pretended to be a Taiwanese woman working here as a social escort.

She claimed she needed money to send her brother to university. Mike agreed to help by taking over and paying for one of her appointments with a client.

Mr Chin told TNP: "There was already a commitment on his part to help the scammer so there would be a strong tendency for him to honour his agreement."

Reciprocity is another factor behind Mike's willingness to pay.

His payment for the appointment with Sisi included a membership fee for the social escort service. To persuade him, Sisi offered to pitch in for that fee.

Mr Chin said: "When Sisi said she was trying to help Mike raise the money, there was a greater likelihood for him to reciprocate and do his part.

"Especially if the commitment was in line with what he wanted."

Mike's repeated payments without receiving anything in return could be attributed to the sunk cost effect, Mr Chin added.

"When the victims have already invested so much, both emotionally and financially, they are willing to pay just a bit more."

Another explanation could be the near-win phenomenon, where victims feel they are close to claiming their reward.

"They tend to think: 'I'm almost there. If I just do one more thing, I'll get my reward.'"

Mr Chin said that as with most scams, the scammers prey on common errors in decision-making using a variety of persuasion tactics.

"They may portray themselves as pitiful and this activates a basic social norm to help someone in need."

Terms of endearment or flattery are other tactics they employ to influence victims more easily.

"Scammers tend to stir up strong emotions when interacting with the victims. This causes the victims to lower their guard and make snap judgments."

Mr Chin advised the public to be careful when interacting with strangers and avoid getting into financial transactions with them.

He also said there is no particular demographic that is more susceptible to scams and that everyone should exercise caution.

Mr Chew Jingwei, who heads the Commercial Affairs Department's syndicated fraud branch, said: "Initial investigations revealed that these scammers are based overseas. We are currently working with foreign counterparts and stakeholders to solve the case."

Cheated of twice his monthly salary

Mike, a Malaysian in his 30s who has been working here for more than 10 years, first got to know Sisi when he received a friend request from her on WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, on April 13.

He had thought nothing of adding Sisi as a friend even though he didn't know her. According to her profile picture, she was a young, slim Chinese girl with long hair.

Sisi said she was working as a social escort to earn enough money for her younger brother's education. Mike took pity on her and the pair chatted till 11pm that night.

The next day, Sisi told Mike about her next customer.

"She said she didn't like the customer and begged me to help her by taking over the appointment."

He agreed to meet her at Pioneer MRT station and pay $300 for a seven-hour session.

He insisted he was not expecting sex.

"I just wanted to help her," he said.

But when he turned up for the meet-up that afternoon, Sisi was nowhere in sight.

Instead, he received a call from a man claiming to be her boss who instructed him to make the $300 payment using iTunes gift cards. Mike said: "He spoke in Mandarin and had a foreign accent.

"He said it was safer than paying cash and he knew someone from Apple who would help to transfer the money."

Mike believed him and bought two $150 iTunes cards from a nearby convenience store. He then took a picture of the cards' serial numbers and sent it to Sisi over WeChat.

Having the serial numbers enables a person to have free use of the stored credit in the cards.

But that was not the end.

On that day and the next, Sisi and the man, using one persuasive tactic after another, managed to convince Mike, who earns $3,000 monthly, to part with a total of $6,300 in iTunes cards.

He eventually realised the whole thing was a scam and made a police report on April 15.

HOW SCAM WORKS 

In this variation of a love scam, conmen convince male victims to buy cards or online shopping credit in exchange for a meet-up, date or sexual liaison.

The scammers typically insist that the victims buy the cards from AXS machines or convenience stores before sending images of the receipts, along with the PIN numbers, for them to claim the credit.

They normally befriend victims on social media platforms such as WeChat and iAround, and communicate with the victims through online messaging and phone calls.

To avoid becoming a victim:

l Be wary of strangers who befriend you online.

l Do not provide personal details about yourself when engaging with other Internet users.

l Do not share your payment receipts containing details such as PIN numbers with anyone.

If you have information relating to this scam, call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or dial 999 for urgent police assistance.

This article was first published on April 25, 2015.
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