Student in S’pore Scammed into Scamming his Own Parents

So, you’ve heard of kids staging their own kidnapping to scam money from their parents.

But have you heard of kids being scammed into scamming their parents?

In this case of a bizarre scam call, this teenager was scammed into staging his own kidnapping.

At 15, I could barely learn my own 听写 (ting xie), but coming up with an elaborate way to stage a kidnap on yourself?

Both amusing and terrifying.

Scammed by “Police”

According to the The Straits Times, this 15-year-old student received a phone call from a “police officer” in China.

The student was from China but is currently living in Singapore.

The scammer then told him that there was a police warrant against him in China. And what for?

Money laundering offences. At 15?

The scammer then told him that if he wanted to cancel the warrant, he would have to transfer money to a bank account in China.

If I were 15 and got this call, I’d honestly be crying my eyes out instead of looking for money to transfer. And although I’m not a law student, I’m pretty sure cancelling a warrant does not work that way.

Obeyed Instructions

According to the police (the real one), the teen was told to get his parents to pay since he did not have enough money.

And for some reason, their best way to get his parents to pay was to make the boy stage his own kidnapping, which he complied to.

To successfully execute his fake kidnapping, he would’ve gone through elaborate planning. I think.

On 1 May, the teenager checked into a hotel at Orchard Road. The police said that he was told not to contact anyone, and to take a photograph of himself being tied up.

Wait, wait, wait. How do you take a photo of yourself while you’re tied up? Like a selfie? A mirror selfie? So many possibilities.

It Actually Worked

After taking the photo, he sent it to his parents, who reside in China. He told them to pay the ransom to the Chinese bank account so that he could be released.

Believe it or not, it actually worked.

His parents were so frightened that they immediately transferred the ransom of 20,000 yuan (S$4,045) to the bank account. They also alerted his guardian, who was in Singapore as they could not get in touch with their son.

The guardian then called the police. Officers (yes, real police officers) were deployed to look for the teen and found him safe in the hotel room.

You know those dramas that have a very anti-climatic ending? This is it. Although, I’m happy that this boy wasn’t actually kidnapped, though. Don’t get me wrong.

Public Awareness

The Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force is currently working with its China counterparts on the case. The police also said that they take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly.

They also advise members of the public to ignore such calls from unknown callers and to ignore their instructions if any.

They added that no government agency instructs people to make payments through calls or social messaging platforms (especially to…cancel a warrant?).

Things you should note:

• Government agencies don’t ask for personal banking information
• Foreigners who receive such calls should verify with their embassy or high commission
• You should refrain from giving out personal information and bank details to anyone

If you need more help regarding scam-related advice, you can call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg

Or subscribe to our YouTube channel, whereby we work with the police (real ones, of course) to create anti-spam videos like this: