September 18, 2022, 03:03 PM
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It seems like people in Singapore, especially the elderly, are still falling prey to internet scams.
A man in his 70s walked into the UOB main Raffles Place branch in an attempt to bank in a cheque of more than S$150,000 to an offshore account, The Straits Times reported.
But he was stopped by quick-thinking bank staff who smelled a rat.
Signs of scam
Bank account details that don't match
The first sign the man was about to become a scam victim was that the account holder and the account number did not match.
Customer appeared flustered
When the man, who was described as "flustered", was asked more about the purpose of the transaction, he appeared more rattled and disoriented, as his answers became "more incoherent", according to the bank staff, aged 46, who was serving the man.
The bank staff, with 27 years of experience in UOB, subsequently approached her assistant branch manager, aged 55.
Illogical answers to simple questions
According to the assistant branch manager, the man said "the money was for his girlfriend in The Netherlands" and they met on Facebook two months ago.
The foreign online partner apparently told the man she needed the money to complete a business deal and get commission from it.
Convince customer to stop transaction
The assistant branch manager was then bent on halting the transaction by convincing the man he was being scammed.
"I asked if he had seen scam articles in the news. He said yes, but insisted he was not being scammed," she said, as reported by ST.
"He said it was love and his girlfriend needed the money urgently."
It then took half an hour for the man to come to his senses.
He then made a police report.
Background
The mid-year crime statistics released by the police in August 2022 showed more than S$20 million had been lost to Internet love scams in the first six months of 2022.
There were 477 cases in the first half of 2022, a dip from the 546 cases during the same period in 2021.
Top photo via Google Maps.
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