‘Help, my 68-year-old father is a love scam victim!’

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user took to the platform to ask for advice, stating that their dad had become involved in a love scam and was sending his “girlfriend” S$3,000 a month via UnionPay.

Saying that their father has made “absolutely horrendous” money decisions for a long time now, u/OompaLoompaHoompa asked, “What can I do?”

The dad used to be a SAF officer but has been working as a taxi driver since 2008. At present, he has S$56,000 in credit card debt, for which he has only been paying the interest.

He also allegedly stole the post author’s mum’s gold inheritance but lied about it, which they only found out recently, and while they were able to get the money back, this was not the case for the endowment fund that the post author’s mother set up for them and their sister.

“He is very secretive of his assets. Does not want to share bank account information. He is always trying to be the ‘mysterious’ figure. Very untransparent with what he’s doing and claims ‘privacy’ for everything,” they added.

They noticed their dad’s most recent financial doings when he began using WeChat a lot and discovered that he had been chatting with several “girlfriends” and transferred thousands to one, which the post author wants to put a stop to and is hoping to find a legal way to do so.

“Also, I do not want to support him in his old age. Both my sister and I are fed up with his antics and are seeking to shield ourselves (and my mum) from any legal liabilities that may arise as a consequence of his ill-spending habits,” they added.

Commenters on the post were sympathetic toward the post author and urged them to protect their mum, sister, and themself from their father’s financial wrongdoings as soon as possible.

“Firstly, please secure all your personal accounts, assets, and physical valuables to prevent theft, ie, no sharing of passwords whatsoever.

Secondly, if you have any joint accounts or assets with your father, please separate them ASAP.

Your father clearly has a history. Protect yourself and your mum first,” advised one.

“Ask your mum to move all her money out of any joint accounts. Do this quickly. If he gets violent, call the police and kill 2 birds with 1 stone by informing them of the ongoing scam…

You do not have to support him financially. It is not normal for dads to behave this way, and plenty of adult children would have cut him off or disowned him long ago.

The Maintenance of Parent Act is not universally in favour of the parent, and it does take into account extenuating circumstances,” wrote another.

Other Reddit users urged the post author to report the scam to the Police and to work with banks and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

“You should lodge a police report with all the evidence you have to show (including the gold theft). Not that the police will help to recover the money, but hopefully this can serve as evidence for you in case he were to ask for money from you under the Maintenance of Parent Act, although more information on how he has been a neglectful or abusive father would be more advantageous,” one added. /TISG

Read also: UOB staff spent 4 hours convincing 70-year-old woman against giving away $500K in love scam