The reason scammers are so effective is that they usually carry out their swindles over the phone and through email, where it’s much easier to lie and put up a front.
Conversely, if these scammers tried going up to people in the streets with the same dialogue, it would fail 95% of the time.
For instance, if a man called you claiming to be a police officer, it’d be hard to contradict this claim, because it’s not like police officers have a distinct voice.
However, if a man came up to you on the street claiming he was a police officer, but he was rather unfit and couldn’t take three steps without panting, you’d sense that something fishy was going on.
Or, at least that’s what we think.
Professionally Dressed Lady Disguised as Chinese Cop Allegedly Scammed $500K From Bedok Resident
An unlucky resident was scammed out of half a million dollars after a woman disguised as a Chinese police officer visited his house.
The incident occurred last Friday (23 Oct) at Block 409 at Bedok North Avenue 2.
Like most scams, this one started with a call.
The resident received a call by a scammer who asked him to transfer a large sum of money.
But, as many swindlers would know, it’s not always easy to convince victims of your legitimacy when you’re trying to be someone else.
So, this scammer took a different approach; he sent a “real” police officer to the victim’s house.
This woman, who was part of the scamming team, was professionally dressed in a white blouse, black skirt, and a pair of heels.
While many would find this fishier than a wet market on a Sunday morning, the scammer managed to persuade the resident with her words.
Details of the scam are unclear, but the victim ended up transferring $500,000 to the swindler.
Woman Later Arrested
According to Lianhe Wanbao, the victim realised something was amiss only after the woman left.
He promptly lodged a police report.
Fortunately, the police managed to identify the female scammer from CCTV footage and arrested her.
She is currently assisting with police investigations.
While scams involving Chinese “officials” are not uncommon here, this is the first case where a scammer went down to a victim’s house to persuade them.
Keeping Up With Scammers
It just shows that scammers are getting more and more sophisticated.
You might scoff at this man and think that the woman wouldn’t have been able to swindle you, but anyone can fall prey to a scammer.
We have to keep our guard up, especially when strangers are asking us for money.
The details of the scam are unclear, but one thing’s for sure; a police officer or official will never personally ask you for money.
Especially not half a million dollars.
You can watch these series of videos we’ve done in collaboration with the Singapore Police Force (and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
