After receiving a call from someone who claimed to be part of the Singapore Police Force (SPF), a student fell into a phone scam that left her bank account – filled with her entire life savings – empty.According to a report by the Straits Times, the student, living and working in Singapore but born in China, received the call more than a year ago. The person at the other end of the line told her that she was under suspicion for money laundering, then transferred her to a "110" number, which is linked to the Chinese police force. The “Chinese officer” asked for her location to “show that she wasn’t running away.”The next day, the same number told her to input her bank account details in what she thought was a website by the SPF, while urging her to keep the case confidential to catch the culprit.After inputting all her details in the website, including access to her bank account and a one-time password, she received a notice that the money in her account—her life savings of $22,500—were all gone. She realized that she had been duped when afterwards, she was told not to check her bank account. She is one of four people that have been a victim of this particular scam.But there’s good news. On Wednesday, April 17, two people involved in the phone scams were convicted. Chien Jui Hung and Lin Yu Fan, mules in the phone scams, were sentenced to 28 months and 22 months in jail respectively, for money laundering.In China, phone scamming is not new. In an investigative video report by Channel NewsAsia, the people of Chang Keng Township have reportedly ditched their main source of income of tea farming, for a more lucrative “career” that has helped pay for their mansions and expensive luxury cars: phone scams. Almost $10 million have been duped from Singaporeans through phone scams according to the same report.Oh and a pro tip: maybe don’t give sensitive bank account details to anybody you don’t know.
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