S’pore PR, 19, unknowingly connects scammer with seniors

By – Thiruselvam

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Nineteen-year-old Chen, who hails from Fujian in China, received a call from “immigration officers” claiming that she was suspected of being involved in criminal activities in China.

The Singapore Permanent Resident was working part-time at a tea shop when she received the call in August last year.

She believed the caller to be an officer as he knew her name and ID number, so she complied when she was told to report her movements twice a day to prove her innocence.

At the same time, the caller also provided Miss Chen with four contact numbers and addresses, and told her to get in touch with the four individuals who were similarly suspected of being involved in the same criminal activities. 

As instructed, Miss Chen met the four individuals and downloaded the app Telegram to their phones. Miss Chen told Shin Min Daily News that the four individuals were all senior citizens.

There was no other request from the caller other than for her to continue reporting her movements to him.

Miss Chen became suspicious only when she flew back to China for Chinese New Year and the caller told her to continue reporting to him.

However, Telegram is banned in China and she thought it was odd that an officer would tell her to bypass the firewall to use the illegal app.

Now Miss Chen is worried about the four senior citizens. She plans to make a police report when she returns to Singapore.

Source – THE NEW PAPER