Woman Insists Investing 'High Return Scheme' Despite Alerts from Bank and Police, Lossing $330,000

A woman from Singapore who insisted on transferring money to a pig-butchering investment scam despite warnings from the bank and police was cheated out of all her savings and taken out loans, suffering a loss of US$330,000.

In April, the woman in her 30s was trying to transfer $20,000 to an international account.

Bank staff found there was no transaction history between the accounts.

Noticing the anomaly, the staff from the bank’s anti-scam team called her and asked a few questions. The victim sounded anxious and could not explain the reason for the transaction.

The staff also found she wanted to make transfers to two bank accounts that had no recipient’s name but only an e-mail address.

Most importantly, the Singapore Anti-Scam Centre had flagged the recipient's account as suspicious. So the bank suspended the transaction and called the police. But the woman insisted on the transaction despite the discouragement.

After the first transaction blocked, the victim used another of her bank accounts to transfer $20,000 to an international account under her name. The bankcalled the police again.

Even though the bank and the police strongly discouraged the transaction, the woman asked to unfreeze her account and approve the transfer. She even signed a document confirming that she was aware of the risks involved.

Two months later, in June, the woman finally admitted she had been scammed and reported the incident to the police. She had transferred all $130,000 in her account to the scammers, with less than $600 left.

She believed the “high return investment” offered by crooks, gave all her savings to them, and even borrowed money for that.

The bank staff said they were helpless and did not manage to help her, despite the efforts. The money belonged to the victim and she had the right to dispose of it.

“It is particularly regrettable that she was unwilling to listen to us or the police when she knew she was being influenced by scammers, ”said the staff.

Singapore introduced The Protection from Scams Bill on Nov. 11. If the Bill is passed, the police will be authorized to restrict fraudulent transactions.