What's the worst way to cover up a lie that you've told your girlfriend or wife?

Tell another lie -- to the police.

That's exactly what one man did and it's landed him in even bigger trouble.

Lodged a police report extortion

The man, who is 25, had lodged a police report stating that he had been extorted by three men.

He told police that the trio had demanded he transfer them Alipay credits to compensate for injuries one of had them sustained after the man accidentally bumped into the trio.

Not wanting any trouble, the man subsequently purchased S$9,200 worth of Alipay credits and sent the corresponding serial codes for the credits to an email address given to him by the three men.

Unsolicited offer of sex services

However, after some preliminary investigations, officers from the Clementi Police Division uncovered several inconsistencies in the man's account and determined that he had provided false information to the police.

Rather than being the victim of extortion, the man had in fact fallen for a credit-for-sex scam.

Police believe that he had received an unsolicited offer of sex services from a woman on an online dating application.

The man followed her instructions to book her services via a deposit of Alipay credits.

He purchased at least S$9,200 worth of Alipay credits and sent them to the woman over two days.

Credit-for-sex scam

Yet his thirst would go unquenched as the man did not get to meet the woman despite sending over the serial codes of the credits.

He realised he had been scammed.

The blue-balled man now found himself in quite a predicament: He had to account to his partner regarding the disappearance of S$9,200.

His solution? Find someone who's investigative skills would not match those of his partner.

Or so he thought.

Police have said that investigations against the man are currently ongoing.

Lessons to live by

In a statement released to media, police said: "The Police would like to remind the public that those who lodge false reports or provide false information will face serious consequences under the law."

Those convicted for providing any information which they know to be false, to a public servant can be punished with a one year jail term, or with a fine, which may extend to S$5,000, or both.

Police have also said that credit-for-sex scams are on the rise, with 533 reports of such scams involving S$1.5 million received in 2018.

This is an increase from the 414 cases reported in 2017, involving losses of S$1 million.

Moral of the story? Be wary of strangers on online dating platforms asking for money.

Oh, and don't lie to the police.

Top image by Tero Vesalainen via Pixabay