S'PORE MEN TARGETED IN FAKE DRAW SCAM
October 01, 2007
YOU may have heard of the Nigerian funds transfer scam. But what about the Chinese lottery scam?
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Singaporeans have lost more than $1.5 million to overseas lottery cheats, and almost 300 reports have been made about this since the start of this year, police said.
Among the 122 victims, one lost $353,000.
Typically, they got calls or SMS messages claiming to be from overseas companies, saying they had won cash prizes.
To claim the prizes, they were asked to pay administrative fees via remittance companies to China.
The New Paper on Sunday spoke to two Singapore men who got such calls recently.
Both received calls from women who spoke in Mandarin. One woman used the name of a famous Hong Kong TV station, while the other claimed to be associated with a horse-racing group there.
Mr Joel Kong, 22, a full-time national serviceman, was told last month that he had won $20,000 and a pair of air tickets to China.
Mr Kong said the caller claimed to represent Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited or TVB, known for its artistes like Carol Cheng and Lisa Wang.
He said: 'I was told to transfer $5,000 to them as a guarantee that I would fly to China to claim my prize. Once I arrived at the airport, the money would be returned to me.'
But he did not believe it and did not do so. Two weeks later, Mr Kong got another call from the same woman.
He said: 'She was really patient to have waited two weeks before calling me.
'I gave her a fake address when she asked for mine. I told her I lived in Jurong Batok Road and she believedme.
'Even after I told her that there was no such road, she insisted there was.
'She was interested to find out if I was a government official and if I lived in the western or central part of Singapore.'
SURVEY
TVB has not replied to our queries.
Mr Kong said he did not make a police report as he did not lose any money.
In a separate case, Mr Steven Yong, 37, a trader in electrical panels, got a call, purportedly from a company called Hua Xing in Hong Kong.
At first, the woman said the company was conducting a survey on electronic products, such as handphones and MP3 players.
A few days later, she called again to congratulate him on winning $200,000.
Mr Yong said: 'I was given a user name and password to log onto its website to check what prize I've won.
'After I logged in, I saw my name next to the second prize of $200,000. There were two other winners.
'The website said the prize was sponsored by the Hong Kong Horse Racing Union. It looked convincing.'
But he had to wire $4,900 to the company first.
Mr Yong said: 'I didn't think I would be so lucky to win so much money just like that. It seemed like it just came from nowhere.'
The New Paper on Sunday couldn't find a telephone listing or website for the Hong Kong Horse Racing Union.
The New Paper on Sunday contacted the Hong Kong Jockey Club to find out if the Hong Kong Horse Racing Union existed, or if it knew of Hua Xing.
The jockey club, founded in 1884, became a professional organisation in 1971.
Its spokesman said the club was 'not aware of any organisations named 'Hong Kong Horse Racing Union' and 'Hua Xing', nor does it have any relationship or business association with these organisations'.
The spokesman added that it was 'not normal' for the club to 'ask winners for any deposits for prize redemption purposes'.
A visit to Hua Xing's website showed that it provided reviews for electronic gadgets, such as handphones and digital cameras.
The website said the company was based in Kowloon but provided no street address.
The number of victims in Singapore and the total amount lost in such scams has shot up.
Last year 12 Singaporeans were cheated of a total of $676,400, police said.
In 2005, the figure was $327,000 and the year before, it was just $78,400.
Then I recalled, I received two calls on Sunday. One was in the late morning as I just walked out of the lift to the car. The caller was a lady speaking in Mandarin, she mumbled dunno what 'dian si tai' and wanted to ask me some questions about my handphone. I was frus that the phonecall came at the wrong time & worst - make me struggle with my poor mandarin.
I asked if she could speak English, she obviously didn't understand me coz' she mumbled her self-introduction again. I suspected the phonecall is not local, coz' Singaporeans will speak in English no matter what, if not will do after prompting. Then I hung up the phone abruptly thinking if it could be charged to me.
I did not think about this phonecall until a few hours later, the same lady called. I told her off immediately I was not interested in anything and hung up again. I then complaint to hubby about the nuisance phonecalls, until I read about this today I spoke to him about it.
Obviously I was not conned, otherwise I'll add to the statistics. Infact, phonecalls of any sort - I will not believe them. Nothing is free in this world. So beware my dear readers, it almost happened to me it can happen to you too!
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