Man Lost $80K to “Trustworthy Investment Guru” He Knew from Telegram

There’s a reason why the phrase “don’t talk to strangers” has been around for what seems like forever.

It has held water repeatedly in all sorts of situations—perhaps except having to talk to the auntie downstairs to order char kway teow, but especially when it comes to Telegram investment advertisements.

Man Lost $80,000 to “Trustworthy Investment Guru” from Telegram

Last year, a 68-year-old man surnamed Huang found himself $80,000 poorer after falling victim to a Telegram investment scam.

Yes, you read that right. People still fall for Telegram investment scams even after armies of Telegram users fought back last year using the TikTok influencer caydences’ audio.

These Telegram “Investment Gurus” really power sia.

In October last year, the 68-year-old came across a Telegram advertisement of a man claiming to be a professional investment coach.

This “investment guru” was well-spoken and appeared put together, leading Mr Huang to believe he wasn’t just any “investment guru”—he was a trustworthy investment guru.

That’s what my friend thought about her ex-boyfriend too. She thought he was trustworthy since he was well-spoken and appeared put together. It turns out that he was insane.

We’ve all had our lapses of judgement, I guess.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Huang started speaking to the “investment guru” and was subsequently enticed by the high investment returns the man offered.

As a result, the 68-year-old walked into the scammer’s trap—he opened an investment account with an alleged natural gas company recommended by the “investment guru”.

A natural gas company? We think the “gas” here may have been the scammer’s cheeky way of foreshadowing all the gaslighting he was about to do.

Across four occasions in two months, Mr Huang poured in a total of $80,000 into the investment account.

Thinking about it, perhaps it’s good that we don’t have $80,000. Can’t fall for investment scams if you don’t have money to invest.

Initially, Mr Huang did receive some returns on his investment. However, as wise men say: “Good things don’t last forever”.

In December, when the 68-year-old attempted to use his bank accounts to make other payments, he discovered that his accounts had been frozen.

His worst fears had come true. $80,000, all gone. Well, sort of.

The frozen accounts had $59,000 left, meaning that not the entire $80,000 is gone yet. However, until Mr Huang unfreezes his bank accounts, the $80,000 he transferred to the “investment guru” is as good as gone.

Man Asks Telegram “Investment Guru” for Assistance; Gets “Ghosted” Instead

Instead of lodging a police report or heading onto the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group to write a long-form essay about his frozen bank accounts, the 68-year-old decided to ask the “investment guru” for assistance.

Surprisingly, the scammer entertained him for a bit—he offered to help Mr Huang contact his bank to figure out the problem.

However, this “compassion” shown by the scammer didn’t last long. By the end of December last year, the scammer “ghosted” Mr Huang completely, leaving him hanging high and dry.

See lah… Talk to strangers somemore.

Man Lodges Police Report of Scam Incident

Mr Huang was now left to clean up the mess on his own.

He lodged a police report about the incident and has since reached out to the Anti-Scam Centre to assist him in the next step.

Talking to a stranger from the Anti-Scam Centre? Okay lah. This one not so bad. 

With any hope, Mr Huang can recover his $80,000…

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Singaporeans like Mr Huang losing thousands of dollars to such scams.

In fact, all sorts of scams have made their way into the news this year—from the Fei Yu-ching love scam to the FairPrice birthday giveaway scam.

While the Singapore government continues thinking of new ways to protect Singaporeans from scams, the least we can do is educate ourselves on spotting and avoiding a scam.

For starters, if the offer is too good to be true, you should probably consider whether it’s a scam.

Other signs of scams include receiving unexpected friend requests, requests for payment via gift cards or shopping credits, and demands for urgent fund transfers.

Of course, as we all should also know, if you’re asked to reveal your One-Time Passwords (OTPs), it’s also probably a scam.

If you’d like to find out more about how to spot a scam, you can read more here.

Stay vigilant and stop talking to Telegram “investment gurus”. If you so desperately want to talk to someone, perhaps you should install Tinder instead…