Man trolls 'sugar mummy' scammer who offered up to $7k a week

Man trolls 'sugar mummy' scammer who offered up to $7k a week
PHOTO: Facebook/Amos Heng

Hook up with an attractive older woman and get paid $7,000 a week? Instead of taking the bait on this sweet deal, hilarity ensued when one man decided to give a scammer a run for their money.

Amos Heng took to Facebook on May 19 to share how he had led the scammer by the nose for over two hours, even managing to obtain their bank details in the process.

It all started when an Instagram account, one @miss_amelia01, requested to follow Heng on Instagram.

In their bio, miss_amelia01 promised the opportunity to "service" a wealthy sugar daddy or mummy who would pay up to $7,000 a week, an offer that proved far too intriguing for Heng to ignore.

"What do you do on the evening after a busy Monday workday when someone offers you a sugar mummy service online? Take him up on the offer of course!

"After all, how can I claim to be a proponent of local businesses if I myself don't support a local enterprise," Heng quipped.

He got the ball rolling by pretending to be a potential sugar baby "seeking love from the Merdeka generation".

The scammer, claiming to be one Vivian Ivan from Cupid Ventures Instant Meet-up Agency, asked Heng a series of personal questions before asking him to choose his desired sugar mummy.

The only catch? Heng had to pay a "hook-up fee" of $400 before meeting with his sugar mummy, the scammer said.

Despite Heng claiming that he needed to ask his "real mummy" for a loan to cover the fee, the scammer was none the wiser, continuing to assure Heng that he had "nothing to worry about".

In hopes of convincing Heng to part with his money, they even sent over a video of a man appearing to vouch for their services.

In the video, the man claimed that he had just gotten a payment of $6,000 from his sugar mummy, adding: "Come on friends. It's true and trusted."

After several rounds of back and forth on the "hook-up fee", Heng finally pretended to capitulate to the scammer's demands.

They then told Heng to transfer the funds to a DBS bank account and send over a receipt.

But the jig was up when the scammer realised that Heng had sent a fake receipt.

The scammer appears to have blocked him on WhatsApp, he said.

Heng has yet to call the cops on the scammer, he told AsiaOne on May 19, adding that he was "quite busy these few days with work".

A check by AsiaOne showed that the scammer's Instagram account was still active at the time of writing.

Its first post was made a mere three days ago, on May 18.

But the scammer's modus operandi is nothing new; the police had received reports of similar scams as early as December 2015, the Straits Times reported in 2016.

At least 20 victims lost a total of about $26,000 after they were promised "rich female clients" in exchange for registration fees and other miscellaneous payments, police said.

Those who wish to provide the police with information relating to such cases can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or visit www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

For advice on scams, call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com

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