Update, Oct. 20, 2016, 5.40pm: Richard Lam has contacted us to confirm that he has been the victim of identity theft. His full name and address have been censored from this article; the bank account and phone number do not belong to him. He has also filed a police report on the matter.

Singapore has been ravaged by a series of phone and Internet scams that trick unsuspecting victims into parting with their money. The total amount lost to scammers have run into the millions.

The ruse they employ are often straightforward and barely believable enough for innocent people to fall for it: You receive a call/ text, you are in trouble, but it can be solved, it just needs a bit of money.

But there are always exceptions to the rule.

Check out Exhibit A, "Policemen Richard Lam", who is too straightforward to be true with his text message:

Kendrick Ho shared the screen shot above on Facebook on Oct. 19.

In case you can't see the words in the text message he received, this is what it said:

The responses to the post were unanimously uplifting:

The Singapore Police Force should know what to do next.

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