Man, 67, loses $100k to impersonation scam over 3 days

An elderly man who was tricked into believing that his bank account had been hacked transferred over $100,000 to another account provided by a supposed "Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) staff" for safekeeping.

The 67-year-old victim, surnamed Zhang (pseudonym), told Shin Min Daily News on Monday (Nov 24) that the ruse started with a missed call on Oct 21.

He dialed the number and was told that his insurance policy was about to expire. When asked if he was keen to renew it, Zhang declined. But he was then told that someone from MAS would soon contact him.

Sure enough, he got a call from a supposed "MAS staff", who said his bank account had been compromised.

"They showed me their work ID. I didn't actually have an account with the bank, but I didn't suspect anything at the time," he told the Chinese daily.

The "MAS staff" then instructed Zhang to download a cryptocurrency application. The scammer requested to communicate via a WhatsApp video call and asked Zhang to turn on the screen sharing function.

At the scammer's behest, Zhang also increased his bank transfer limit. Assured that he would receive the full amount four to five days later, he transferred $31,740 to the given account.

Shin Min reported that Zhang felt uneasy after making the first transfer and even removed the SIM card from his phone before inserting it back later.

Over the next two days, he made five more transfers totaling over $70,000 before realising he had been duped.

"I thought that something was not right, so I asked the other party on WhatsApp to return my money. He just told me to wait. Then, I decided to call 1799 (ScamShield helpline)," Zhang reportedly said.

The hotline operator told the elderly man that he had fallen for a classic Government official impersonation scam and helped freeze his account.

Zhang revealed falling for the scam to his children when he flew to Japan for a holiday and met his son on Oct 23.

His daughter, who was in Singapore, lodged a police report on his behalf.

The police confirmed to Shin Min that a report was lodged.

In June, the police said that at least $3 million had been lost to scammers using this exact modus operandi. At least 46 police reports were lodged that month. 

Zhang said he was sharing his story with the Chinese daily to warn people not to share their mobile screens with strangers or answer calls from unknown numbers.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com