S’pore & HK Police Bust Transnational Job Scam Syndicate; 41 People Caught, Including 27 in S’pore

For what feels like the last decade or so, Singaporeans have been waiting for the authorities to launch its air travel bubble with Hong Kong.

Passports have been dusted, air tickets purchased, but everyone is still at home.

As a consolation, some of us watch videos of others travelling to the Fragrant Harbour to vicariously satisfy our wanderlust. Some visit authentic Hong Kong restaurants here and pretend they’re miles away from home.

Others, however, team up with Hong Kongers to scam others, because nothing is more of a testament to true friendship than scamming unsuspecting victims.

S’pore & HK Police Bust Transnational Job Scam Syndicate; 41 People Caught, Including 27 in S’pore

27 people in Singapore suspected of being involved in a job scam run by a Hong Kong-based syndicate have been arrested or investigated, reported The Straits Times.

The large group comprised 23 men and four women aged between 16 and 53.

They were found to have worked with 14 members of a Hong Kong-based syndicate which offered fake jobs promising quick cash for helping improve the sales on e-commerce platforms, including those in Singapore.

The 14 members, comprising 12 men and two women, were arrested by the Hong Kong Police Force two weeks ago for their suspected involvement.

How the Scam Worked

The scammers would first post job advertisements on social medial, claiming that victims could make money by simply helping improve sales on online marketplaces including Taobao and HKTV Mall.

All they had to do was transfer funds to different bank accounts, which is really when alarm bells should have gone off in their heads, since that’s what all scammers tell you.

But since they were promised reimbursements of the full sum with a 5% to 12% commission, many of them were duped into handing their money over.

What made the scam even more convincing is that scammers would initially reimburse the victims with commissions at first.

So, the victims either facilitated bank transfers, withdrew funds, or even relinquished their bank accounts to the syndicate.

The scammers then told victims that commissions would be paid out only after a certain number of tasks had been completed.

But when they didn’t receive these promised commissions and reimbursement, they realised they had fallen for a scam.

Scams Involved HK$9 million (S$1.56 million)

In total, 134 cases of these job scams in Hong Kong were reported to the police, involving HK$9 million (S$1.56 million).

The police said that online marketplaces would never ask users to transfer money with the promise of a refund and a commission.

They also urged the public to verify the authenticity of a job advertisement with official websites or sources before accepting offers, and to avoid clicking suspicious URLs or download applications from unknown sources.

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