A senior citizen in Singapore fell for the trap of a “woman” he met online in August, and paid for many of her expenses.
68-year-old Mr Huang suffered damages of over SGD10,000 (~RM32,638) after he was convinced by the scammer’s words, who claimed she wanted to visit him in Singapore.
The scammer, under the disguise of a woman named “Li Xin”, added Huang on Facebook two months ago, and in just one month, Li Xin said she planned to visit Singapore to spend time with him.
Xin, however, “elevated” the situation of her story, claiming that she had committed a crime in the country previously and would need to apply for a permit to return to Singapore as she was barred from entering the country.
On the way to Singapore, but too many “obstacles”
Here’s when Li Xin’s friend joined the chat.
A man, who identified himself as “Section Chief Wang, called Huang, and explained the fees and deposit the latter needed to pay to allow Li Xin to leave China. Eager to meet Li Xin, Huang agreed to pay the amount the “Section Chief” instructed him to. The money was paid, and yet, Li Xin was nowhere to be seen.
She told Huang that she was not allowed to leave China as she was carrying too much jewellery.
A few days later, Li Xin expressed that she sincerely wanted to befriend Huang and asked for a few thousand dollars for her permit to enter Singapore. He paid, and Li Xin finally “made it to Singapore” and even sent him an image of a flight with cabin crews.
But there’s another problem.
Li Xin claimed that she was detained at the customs for carrying too much cash and needed SGD1,000 (~RM3,263) to secure her release. And no, the “obstacles” did not end here.
Another SGD600 (~RM1,957) as a token of apology
Li Xin claimed she had been in an accident and was admitted to an undisclosed hospital. Huang’s suspicion started to kick in, and when he questioned Li Xin about it, she was not happy and demanded another SGD1,200 – SGD600 for her medical fee, and the remaining as a token of apology.
Again, Huang paid, and both set a time and place to meet, but Li Xin never made it.
The following day, Li Xin claimed she had travelled to Malaysia and would meet with Huang soon before she disappeared into thin air. Huang noticed he had been scammed after Section Chief Wang called him again, saying that Li Xin had lost her phone in Malaysia, as reported by Lian He Zao Bao.
“Did she think I’m stupid? If she had lost her phone, how could she contact Wang?”
Huang had since lodged a police report about the matter, and he was furious about the con.
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