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What was supposed to be the start of a new chapter soon became a nightmare for a first year postgrad student after he fell victim to a China official impersonation scam.
A cautionary tale
The 24-year-old postgrad spoke to the media on Sep. 7 and shared his story as a cautionary tale to others.
Albert (not his real name) wanted to serve as a warning to others that anyone can fall victim to scams, The Straits Times (ST) reported.
Claims that he was involved in money laundering
The Chinese national arrived in Singapore in July 2022, where he would soon enrol at a local university to pursue a master's degree in chemistry.
However, life, or scammers, had different plans for him.
Within days of his arrival in Singapore, Albert received a phone call from officers claiming they were from the Ministry of Health.
The officers told him he was involved in money laundering activities before they transferred the call to police officers in China.
Scammers look and sound legitimate
But all of this was actually a sham, as these "officials" were actually scammers who were impersonating these officials.
To make their claims sound convincing, the scammers sent Albert documents that looked official.
Image from Singapore Police Force website.
They also conducted video calls, during which they wore police uniforms, and sent him photos of their police badges.
Albert said the scammers appeared firm and authoritative, all of which made the experience feel very real and naturally sent him into a tizzy.
Asked for money
The phony "police officers" told Albert that his particulars had been used to open a bank account in China, and that the account was implicated in money laundering activities.
They then told him that he had to transfer them S$70,000, saying that the funds would be used for "investigation purposes".
While he had his reservations, Albert recalled also feeling afraid at that point: "They said if I didn't comply, they would come to Singapore to arrest me. I kept thinking, what if it's true? What if they really can do that?"
He eventually gave in to the scammers' demands and transferred them the sum. This money was originally meant for his living expenses in Singapore.
Turned to parents, who gave him life savings
However, the scammers wanted more.
They told Albert that they would need money to bail him out, if he were to be arrested.
He then turned to his parents and asked them for S$130,000.
This, by no means, was a small figure, but Albert said his parents handed the money to him as he was their only son and they trusted him.
The sum was a significant chunk of the couple's life savings, both of whom are in their fifties and still working.
Albert transferred his parents' money to the scammers and spoke with them every day throughout the month of August 2022.
According to a police news release, which Mothership understands to be about Albert's case, he was given a mobile phone with a SIM card to communicate with the scammers.
Image from Singapore Police Force website.
Scammers demanded ransom from parents
Sometime in late August, the scammers convinced Albert to send them a video of himself, telling him that the footage would assist in their investigations.
However, unbeknownst to him, the scammers sent the video to his parents, used it to claim that he was kidnapped, and demanded ransom for his release.
Alarmed, Albert's parents contacted their friend in Singapore to file a police report.
Police officers in Singapore promptly launched an investigation to search for Albert and found him in the vicinity of Geylang Road five hours later.
Realise he had been scammed
He only realised that he was a victim of a nefarious China official impersonation scam after the police explained to him what had happened.
However, all the money was gone by then.
According to the police, Albert had lost over S$200,000 to the scammers.
Feels guilty for what happened
Speaking to the media, Albert shared that he never expected he would fall for a scam, much less one that would result in his parents losing their life savings.
While he said his parents have forgiven him, he still feels guilty about what happened and wished he had told them what happened earlier.
Separately, the police have arrested a 58-year-old man for his suspected involvement in Albert's scam.
Based on their preliminary investigations, the man had acted on the scammers' instructions and passed him the mobile phone and booked hotel rooms for him.
Investigations are ongoing.
Scams to be aware of
Top image from Singapore Police Force website and by Naqi Shahid/Unsplash