Scams: Everything is fake, except the crook

Under the new normal, Singaporeans are not only learning to live with Covid-19, but also to live with scams.

With lockdowns around the world, the businesses of criminals are affected by social gathering restrictions, nightspot closures and logistic disruptions. To make up for the shortfall, organized crimes are driven online for alternative sources of income.

More scams during the pandemic

As if to alleviate the boredom of WFH, I have far more unsolicited messages from strangers during the pandemic.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, I received an email with my personal email address as the sender. It claimed that they have controlled my computer and captured videos of me surfing porn sites and m******ting at my desk. If I fail to transfer a certain amount to their cryptocurrency account within 48 hours after opening the email, they will share the videos with all my contacts in various social media …

I had a good laugh that relaxed me from busy preparations for Chinese New Year. What a low-cost trick! Too bad I am a boring person who only surf the net for financial and property news. How stimulating can that be? But I could imagine guys or young people falling for these compromised photo or video scams.

Not long ago someone contacted me via LinkedIn. A friend passed him my contact for advice on Singapore housing for his job relocation. He is a doctor with an international NGO and was offered a consultant position by a Singapore hospital. In his LinkedIn profile, he got a nice photo, a good medical education and impressive career experience.

I declined to communicate through whatsapp and suggested live chat on my website instead. From my live chat software, I found someone not from Singapore navigating my website. I knew it is him because my website seldom has visitors from an African country. He soon disconnected without typing anything in the chat window.

Amid loneliness in a pandemic, a long-distance relationship with a good-looking doctor may sound exciting. But nothing beats the excitement to track down a potential scammer with personal details of IP address, chat history, etc.

The OCBC phishing saga

Last December, among all the Christmas greetings from different banks, I received the infamous OCBC bank phishing SMS. Without hesitation, I replied to the message as follows:

“I don’t have an OCBC bank account but I followed your instructions anyway. Please transfer by PayNow ASAP the S$1 million sum that you promised. Thank you.”

The next few days I didn’t receive any reply nor a seven-digit amount in my PayNow-linked bank account. So I assume the OCBC message is a scam. Honestly, if any message from my banks asking me to do anything, my relationship managers will “kena arrow” by me.

The OCBC bank phishing scam ended with full goodwill payouts to 790 customers who lost a total of S$13.7 million. The Monetary Authority of Singapore told the public that this is a one-off gesture and does not set a precedent for future cases.

Nonetheless, the generosity of OCBC bank has sent the following messages:

1) To Singapore consumers: It is the responsibility of our government and banks to protect us from faults. If we fall victims to scams, don’t worry, we will be fully compensated by the authority or the company concerned.

2) To scammers all over the world: Singaporeans are gullible. Singapore’s pensioners, as well as bank, telco and utility users are easy target. Above all, Singapore government, banks and companies are cash rich. They would help pay back the money being scammed and case closed. Let’s do it!

Can’t they see neither party has learned their lesson in the whole incident?

What about those who trusted the wrong parties and invested in the wrong things? They also ended up losing their hard-earned money and life savings. Where were their goodwill payouts?

Investment scams that go unnoticed

A recent Straits Times article mentioned four common types of scams in Singapore: SMS phishing scams, impersonation scams, e-commerce or delivery scams and love scams.

Actually, there is a fifth common scam known as investment scams. They are not limited to ponzi schemes or questionable investments that will not be reported until it’s too late. As Reporters Without Borders told us, reality only exists if someone reports it.

A known secret is ladies with pretty profile pictures befriending guys via friendship apps. Just when the smitten victims think there is potential for a relationship, they are invited to join a fake investment scheme. Quick and easy profits from the first few transactions result in topping up of more funds. Then all of a sudden their money is gone.

Another common investment scam goes almost unnoticed. One can be a victim without even knowing it. The crooks join investment forums and discussion groups to share tips from reliable sources. Buy a stock, cryptocurrency or certain asset right now. Prices are going to jump soon! Of course, they would have stocked up in advance at dirt cheap prices. Just when prices escalate, they sell in bulk at the peak and let prices fall, leaving latecomers high and dry.

The police said they have seen a resurgence in such “pump and dump” scams, where fraudsters hype up the price of a company’s shares by sharing fake or greatly exaggerated positive news.

Once unwitting victims buy the shares and the price rises, these fraudsters, who claim to be from abroad, quickly sell their holdings for a profit. This causes the price to plunge and the victims are left counting their losses.

The police said that most victims got to know the swindlers through social media or instant messaging platforms WhatsApp and WeChat.

– “Seven victims in S’pore lose over $1.45 million in stock-buying scam“, The Straits Times, 11 August 2021

Sounds familiar?

Mystery shoppers aka property agents proudly shared in property forums how they just booked two or three units in the same project. Buyers congratulated each other and ended their thread with “welcome to the gang!”, “wait for prices to jump! huat ah!” …

– “What happened to buyers who overpaid at new launch?“, PropertySoul.com

Some asset management companies or fund houses operate the same way. When they know a stock or an asset in their portfolio is going to be in trouble, they speak in the press that this is a hidden gem and a soon-to-be star performer. They strongly recommend a “buy”. When there are enough retail investors who take their advice to buy, they get the chance to sell for their private clients before prices crash.

Our media darlings – CEOs of hot startups, spokespersons of large companies and celebrity-level investment gurus – can do the same thing too. Many are financial crocodiles under the clothing of successful businessmen. After their followers put in everything they have to board the vessel, out of the blue they are told that their captain has jumped ship.

Are Singaporeans too gullible?

One simple bank message can swindle 470 people of S$13.7 million in a month. Last year, online cryptocurrency trading platform Torque suddenly filed for liquidation. At least 70 police reports were lodged with victims losing millions in cryptocurrencies.

Remember the EcoHouse Brazilian public housing project, the Castlewood Dream Phuket Hotel & Spa, the Soilwood and Noble Consulting Group projects? Why every time when a scam came into light, Singaporeans often top the list for the bulk of victims and losses? Are Singaporeans particularly gullible and susceptible to scams?

Before I came to Singapore, I heard Singaporeans could be more gullible as compared with other nationalities. Once I relocated here, now I believe Singaporeans are gullible. After I became a property blogger and received e-mails regularly from distressed homebuyers, I totally agree that Singaporeans are very gullible. In fact, many of them cannot tell the wolves from the sheep. Some believe the wolves are vegetarians.

There are many home buyers out there who believe everything they read in the media and whatever the people around tell them. They never verify the source or validate facts. They don’t think for themselves. They depend on other people to tell them how to think and what to do. They are easily sold on the marketer’s big idea. Unfortunately, when the idea turns out to be a bad one, these gullible buyers end up losing their hard-earned money.

– Vina Ip, Behind The Scenes of The Property Market

Singapore is a high trust society but we are living in a low trust world. This is what makes us vulnerable to all kinds of frauds. We are also one of the most affluent countries in the region with many cash rich individuals. That is why we are often targeted by scammers.

Years ago I googled in Chinese and found posts with real-life stories to show why Singapore tourists are the easiest to cheat. I have a Singapore passport since 2002. But whenever I am overseas and a local stranger asks me where I come from, I always say I am from China or Hong Kong. I just want to avoid any trouble. Go find an easier target.

Why the smart and rich are more likely to fall prey

Everyone can be a scam victim. But contrary to what we believe, people with high education, high net worth and high social status are more likely to fall prey to fraud.

1. High education

Big scams tend to target the highly educated with some knowledge of finance. Imagine the difficulties to explain to a layman a high-return investment scheme.

Someone who has some knowledge about financial securities will more likely fall for a financial security scam than someone with zero knowledge. If you have zero knowledge, you will just throw the information away, and not engage or interact with it.

– “‘People are gullible to believe whatever’s told to them’: Inside the mind of an ex-scammer“, Channel NewsAsia, 12 June 2021

2. High net worth

For big scams that target billions, it doesn’t worth the conmen’s efforts to cheat ordinary people who have less or no money to spare. High net worth individuals are likely to be the target because they have ready cash to be cheated.

Besides, rich people may not be good at investment. Like the Channel NewAsia article said, “just because you have money doesn’t mean you are a savvy investor”.

3. High social status

Here is a real-life example: Envy Group’s nickel trading scheme that promised returns averaged 15 percent over three months cheated at least $1.5 billion. Victims include Temasek International’s general counsel, Vickers Capital Group chairman, former Law Society president and a criminal lawyer.

How could a crook manage to swindle our society elites in reputable professions?

“We stroke their ego, especially when they’re “up there”; with a position as a lawyer, doctor, surgeon. So they will feel good about themselves, and when they feel good, they will make decisions that sometimes they don’t think through.”

– “‘People are gullible to believe whatever’s told to them’: Inside the mind of an ex-scammer“, Channel NewsAsia, 12 June 2021

How to boost our immunity to scams

We can have vaccinations to protect us from different variants of Covid-19. But how to build herd immunity to fight against different types of scams?

Fortunately, swindlers are similar to pickpockets. They tend to look for easy targets. To avoid falling victims to scams, we just need to take extra care.

Studies show that con artists do not have higher intelligence. But they do have higher creativity compared to ordinary people. They get their ways because they understand human psychology and human weaknesses.

1. Know your weakness

Your blind trust in authority (e.g. the police, CPF Board, Ministry of Health, a large bank, a big telco, etc.) will make you susceptible to impersonation. Your irrational fear for the safety of your money, valuables or loved ones will give way to the threat tactic of scammers. Your panic and inability to keep calm under uncertainty will fall for the urgency and limited time trick. Your greed and unwillingness to settle for low interest rate and high inflation will make you succumb to ponzi schemes or investment scams. Your laziness to verify details and do your due diligence will make you prone to deceptive high-return investment.

2. Know your crush

Do you often fall for a particular type but end up having a heartbreak every time? Learn from your lessons and run away from your crush.

Know what makes you trust them. Gullibility can be fatal. Like the new Covid-19 variant, it is highly contagious and can spread in the air. Run and stay away as far as possible.

Find out the types you are easily falling for. Is it their eloquent speech and impressive presentation? Is it their ability to package and present themselves? Is it their look of success, fame, educational background or social status? Recognize the patterns, remind yourself constantly and consciously maintain a safe distance from them.

– Vina Ip, Behind The Scenes of The Property Market

3. Know your greed

You can have intelligence but no common sense. The two don’t necessarily go together. You can be smart but blinded by greed.

Don’t believe in the saying high risk high return. It can turn out to be high risk low return, high risk no return, or high risk principal drops to zero.

Remember: Think for yourself. There is hardly anyone in this world who truly has your best interests at heart. The majority only care about their own interests. And no one is interested to help you get rich.

If you need advice on property matters or residential properties in Singapore, you can check out my personal consultation service.

My new book Behind The Scenes of The Property Market is now available for preview and order online. You can also check out my online courses.