S'pore woman in her 30s left with S$600 after losing S$330,000 to scam despite warnings from bank staff & police

A woman in her 30s in Singapore lost a staggering S$330,000 after sending money to an "online friend”, despite repeated warnings from both bank staff and the police.

The woman had met the man online and trusted him completely, even signing an indemnity form with OCBC to acknowledge the risks involved.

It was revealed later that he had promised her high-return investment opportunities.

She even took out loans to fund the transfers, and now she is left with less than S$600 to her name.

Bank staff become suspicious

OCBC's anti-fraud investigator, Peck Chun Hua, told Shin Min Daily News that bank staff first became suspicious on Apr. 16, 2024, when they noticed the woman trying to transfer S$20,000 to an international account.

They also observed that there had been no prior transactions between the two parties.

When a fraud analyst contacted the woman to confirm the transfer, she claimed it was a loan to a friend and asked the bank to approve it.

However, the analyst noted that the woman sounded nervous and could not justify the transfer.

During the call, the analyst also discovered that the woman had attempted to transfer money to two different accounts, both linked to an email address with no name or clear purpose.

Suspicious recipient identified

Growing concerned, the analyst contacted Peck, who quickly alerted police colleagues at the anti-fraud centre.

It was revealed that the recipient's account had already been flagged as suspicious.

Recognising the case's similarity to other fraud cases, Peck immediately blocked the transfer and notified the authorities.

Police intervention

Deputy Superintendent of Police Timothy Ng, officer-in-charge at the anti-scam centre, said that even after the police intervened, the woman remained steadfast in her belief that she had not been scammed.

She even called the bank's service centre, asking them to approve her transfer.

A few days later, the woman transferred around S$30,000 from another account to an international account under her name.

In response, investigators suspended the account to prevent further transfers to the scammers.

Despite having a meeting with the woman to warn and dissuade her, the woman insisted that the bank reopen the account and authorise the transfer.

After several rounds of persuasion, she signed an indemnity form, acknowledging the risks involved.

She had about S$130,000 in her two accounts at that point.

Realisation of the scam

Two months later, the woman finally realised she had been scammed and filed a police report.

The report revealed that she had less than S$600 remaining across her accounts.

The woman admitted that she had been misled by the scammer, who had promised high-return investment opportunities.

In total, the woman made 27 transfers, losing nearly S$330,000, including both her savings and loans taken out from various banks.

Peck expressed both disappointment and sadness, stating that despite the efforts of both the bank and the authorities to intervene, the woman continued to trust the scammer and refused to cooperate.

Protection for Scams Bill

To protect potential scam victims like the woman, the Protection for Scams Bill was tabled in Parliament on Nov. 11, 2024.

The bill, if passed, will see the police issuing Restriction Orders (RO) to banks to restrict the banking transactions of individuals who are believed to be making money transfers to a scammer.

A police officer will make the decision to issue the RO based on an assessment of the facts and circumstances of each case.

The RO will be issued only as a "last resort", after other options to convince the individual have been exhausted, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said in a press release then.

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