Netizen receives a phone call from ‘High Court’, shares scam experience online

Singapore — A netizen shared his experience regarding a scam on Facebook.

He uploaded a video to the Facebook group Complaint Singapore after he recorded a scam call.

The video starts with an automated female voice on the phone speaking in Mandarin. The voice instructs him to press 9 on the keypad.

Shortly after he presses 9, a man speaks to him in Mandarin.

The netizen says that the call was supposedly from the High Court. However, the caller speaking in Mandarin had been a giveaway that this was a scam call instead.

The caller repeatedly says “Hello” but hangs up when the netizen refuses to engage him in conversation.

Other netizens were quick to point out that phone numbers that are prefixed with a plus sign (+) were normally indicative of a scam.

Some netizens also claimed to have received similar phone calls from someone who claimed to work for the High Court.

Some others noted that scam calls were not an uncommon occurrence.

The total number of reported crimes went up from 16,240 cases in the first half of 2019 to 18,121 cases in the first half of 2020t. Police attributed the rise in scam cases to Covid-19 measures that lead more Singaporeans to stay at home and make online transactions.

Members of the public should be wary when engaging in online activity and take precautions to protect themselves from scams. In April 2020, all incoming international calls were prefixed with a plus sign (+) to prevent overseas spoof calls.