SINGAPORE: A foreign student in Singapore, about to enroll at the National University of Singapore (NUS), managed to avoid being scammed and even profited $11 after nearly falling victim to a sophisticated phone scam.
Ms Lee (not her real name) told Channel 8 that she received a phone call on Wednesday (24 July) shortly after she applied for her student pass. That afternoon, she received a call from someone claiming to be an officer from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
Initially cautious, Ms Lee’s suspicion waned after the caller provided a name, work ID number, and encouraged her to verify his identity by visiting the immigration building.
The scammers alleged that a mobile phone number registered by Ms Lee in Shanghai, China, on 18 July was linked to a fraud case. They warned that her reputation and study plans in Singapore could be jeopardized and suggested transferring her call to the “Shanghai Public Security Bureau” for resolution.
“At this point, I had already believed it,” Ms Lee admitted, “Stupidly, I just hung up the phone and thought about calling my parents. Then the other party said that if I could guarantee that this (Shanghai-registered) phone number had nothing to do with me, they could directly transfer me to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.”
Ms Lee didn’t realize that the scammers’ tactic was to keep her on the line, depriving her of a chance to verify their claims independently. She ended up conversing with them for nearly half an hour. Her panic escalated until her local prepaid phone card ran out of credit, abruptly terminating the call.
Seeking help, she borrowed a mobile phone from her roommate, who immediately recognized the situation as a scam: “She told me that the immigration department would only send emails and not call. I was a little unsure at the time and said, ‘Is this really a scam?'”
At that moment, Ms Lee’s phone, unexpectedly reloaded with credit, rang with the scammer calling from a new number. This unusual situation prompted her to realize she was being scammed. “At this point, I also came to my senses and felt that the scammers were so clumsy…If it was really the Immigration Department, how could there be so many phone numbers?”
Ms Lee also discovered a text message from Singtel indicating that her account had been topped up with $11. She said, “It was the scammer who topped up my account in order to continue to scam me. I really laughed. I never dreamed that such a dramatic thing would happen to me.”
Reflecting on the ordeal, Ms Lee expressed relief that she did not fall victim to the scam despite the fright it caused her.
This incident comes amid a surge in fraudulent calls impersonating ICA officers. The ICA reported receiving approximately 500 such reports between April and June this year, a significant increase from the previous quarter. The ICA reiterated that government officials would never request money transfers, bank information, or the installation of third-party applications via phone calls or text messages.
Ms Lee’s experience serves as a stark reminder of the cunning tactics employed by scammers and highlights the importance of vigilance and skepticism in such encounters.
TISG/