Scammer ‘boyfriend’ tells woman to transfer S$10K; stopped by OCBC staff

Singapore — Despite trying three times to transfer money to her “boyfriend,” a woman was denied her request by OCBC staff, thus saving her from a scam.

“This 57-year-old female customer was relentless,” wrote OCBC Bank on Facebook on Monday (Aug 30).

It shared the incident where a client visited the Choa Chu Kang branch three times on Jun 14, 15 and 17 to remit 6,600 euros (about S$10,500) to her boyfriend to help him with his alleged pipe repairing machine for business.

The woman noted having met the man a few years ago but only got close with him recently on Facebook following her husband’s death.

“Our branch colleagues became suspicious when they noticed that the funds transfer was to be made to a personal bank account in Thailand,” said OCBC, noting the woman said he was based in the United States with his daughter.

OCBC staff then explained to the woman that it was most probably a scam.

On the first two days, the woman insisted that she wanted to help her boyfriend. On both occasions, the staff denied her request and advised her to tell the man not to pressure her into sending money if he really loved her.

Later on, the boyfriend’s daughter called the woman through WhatsApp and tried convincing her to send the money for his business.

OCBC staff reached out to the Singapore Police Force, and officers from the Choa Chu Kang NPC also tried speaking with the woman to explain the matter.

On Jun 17, the woman returned with the same request.

As a last resort, the bank agreed to hold a video call with the woman and the boyfriend later in the evening.

“The customer then returned to the branch at about 6:30 pm to prepare for the video call, as the boyfriend indicated he was only available at lunchtime in Italy.”

“Another tell-tale sign that something was amiss since he was supposedly based in the USA,” said OCBC.

The group waited until 8 pm, way past bank hours, but the boyfriend did not show.

The staff informed the woman to be prepared for excuses to come from the man, which had happened as predicted.

The woman came back the following day to thank the staff for saving her from the scam.

“Thankfully, thanks to the vigilance, patience and persistence of our colleagues, the customer did not transfer any money to the scammer,” wrote OCBC. /TISG

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