A 43-year-old woman, Madam Ng, went to OCBC Bank, Serangoon Garden Branch on 12 March 2018, to make a transfer of $2,500 to another OCBC bank account.
The branch teller, Ms. Yao Liang Bing, sensed that Madam Ng was confused and asked for more facts pertaining to the purpose of the transfer.
Madam Ng, a 43-year-old business owner, and mother of four children aged three to 13 told Ms. Yao that she met a man, who claimed to be a Korean named Owen Park living in London, on Facebook last week. The man will send her long messages when he was down and she had to comfort him. They often talk over the conference call.
The man also told Madam Ng that he wanted to send gifts, which included an Apple MacBook, bags, shoes and a Sony PlayStation 4, and $20,000 cash to her and her kids. However, in order for her to receive the gifts, he told me that she had to pay a customs clearance of $2,500 by depositing the said amount into an OCBC bank account.
From crime advisories issued by the police, Ms. Yao knew that this is a common modus operandi used by scammers. Ms. Yao immediately escalated the matter to the Customer Service Manager, Ms. Seah Hoon Hoon June.
Both staffs attended to the victim and advised her against making the transfer.
At first, Madam insisted her case should not be classified as a love scam, as she believed that she is already an auntie with four kids, who would want to hit on her, but later decided lodged a police report on the same day.
Director Commercial Affairs Department, Mr. David Chew, thanked OCBC Bank for their close cooperation with the Singapore Police Force in detecting and preventing crimes and commended Miss Yao and Miss Seah for their alertness and public spiritedness when performing their duties.
“Prevention is better than cure and it often takes a concerned bystander to see the need and step up to help a potential victim of a scam. As the first point of contact with the victim, Miss Yao and Miss Seah had successfully saved her from not just losing the initial $2,500 but future financial loss and distress if the scam had continued.” He added.
Madam’s husband found out about the incident only after she had made the police report. She advised the member of the public to keep an open mind and extra careful when making new friends especially when monetary transactions are involved.
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