A few days after a woman followed him on TikTok, a 68-year-old retiree was being told he could earn returns of up to 10 per cent on an AI-powered investment platform.
He never got the money out.
Over about three months from November 2025 to January 2026, he lost S$70,755 of his savings. Police arranged for him to speak to reporters ahead of their Mid-Year Scam and Cybercrime Brief 2026, released on 26 August.
The Straits Times identified him as James Ng, not his real name. Mothership referred to him as Ng.
He Treated Her Like A Friend
Ng said the woman followed him on TikTok in early November 2025. He followed her back. They chatted on the app, then moved to WhatsApp.
After a few days, she said she had something good to share. She had been investing on a platform called AI Robots, which she claimed could analyse data faster than human brokers.
She told him she worked for the company and could not trade on it herself. She asked if he could help manage her account.
Ng said he trusted her because she talked like a friend. They never met in person. He only had a photo she sent, supposedly of her.
She said she was 35 and lived in Kuala Lumpur. She used a Malaysian number, but Ng noticed a mainland Chinese accent when they spoke on the phone. When he asked, she said she had picked it up from her father, who was from China.
He wanted extra income for retirement, so he agreed to help. He also opened his own account, and began putting in S$1,000 to S$5,000 in cryptocurrency every two to three days.
The Numbers Went Up, The Withdrawals Did Not
Ng said he could see the balance grow. He could not take it out.
In late November, when the displayed investments had grown to about S$50,000, "customer service" told him the funds were blocked because of a poor internet connection. They said he needed to invest another S$50,000 to get the money back.
He did not have that sum, so he asked his son for a loan. His son said it was a scam and helped him make a police report. By then, Ng had already put in about S$43,590.
He still went back to the platform, hoping to recover the money.
In January 2026, the same "customer service" said he had to pay a 28 per cent income tax before he could withdraw. That, he said, was when it finally felt wrong. He stopped putting more money in. The second round had already cost him S$27,165.
A Fake Moneylender Took More
The Straits Times reported that Ng also approached a moneylender on TikTok, thinking he could repay the loan once he withdrew his "profits".
That person was another scammer. Ng lost S$2,600 after being asked to transfer money for supposed lawyer and stamp duty fees.
His son did not know he had gone back to the platform after the police report. He found out when Ng asked for another loan.
Ng later blocked the woman. He still uses TikTok, but said he will no longer chat with people who message him there.
In April, another group contacted him posing as a scam recovery company and asked for S$20,000 to get his money back. He called the ScamShield Helpline and avoided a second hit.
Scams Fell, But The Losses Are Still Huge
Police said the overall scam and cybercrime situation improved in the first half of 2026.
There were 18,391 scam and cybercrime cases, down 17.9 per cent from 22,397 in the same period in 2025. Scam cases fell 14.4 per cent to 16,821.
The amount lost to scams also fell 17.9 per cent, to about S$410.6 million from about S$500.2 million.
Investment scams still accounted for the highest amount lost among scam types, at S$169.8 million, according to The Straits Times.
Cryptocurrency losses made up about S$65.5 million, or 16 per cent of total scam losses, though that was 43 per cent lower than a year earlier.
Police said 8 in 10 victims voluntarily handed money to scammers.
Ng's advice was simple: talk to your family more. People around you can help you think clearly.
If a stranger on TikTok ever needs you to manage their AI robot account because they, conveniently, cannot invest themselves, that is not a friendship. That is the pitch.
