A Singaporean woman fell in love with a man impersonating local actor Romeo Tan and took a “blood oath” to marry him in New York. In the end, the woman was scammed of $5,500 by the man.
Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, the victim’s sister told the reporter that since December last year, her 46-year-old sister had been chatting with a man who claimed to be local actor Romeo Tan on various platforms and had transferred money to him three times.
According to screenshots of the chat messages provided by the victim’s sister, the scammer told the victim that he wanted to marry her in New York but she needed to transfer $3,000 over to pay for a “marriage certificate”.
In order to gain the victim’s trust, he sent her a photo showing that he had pricked his fingertips and had made a “blood oath”. He also asked the victim to do the same, telling her: “This is not a game, you must keep your promise.”
After receiving the first $3,000, the scammer got bolder and told the victim that he wanted her to go to New York where they would stay together. He also told her that he would buy her a diamond ring and a luxury car. However, before he could do that, she would have to fork out another $2,000 so that the “agent” could apply for a permit and buy a plane ticket for her.
After contacting the “agent”, the scammer asked her to purchase more than $2,000 worth of gaming cards. However, the victim told the man that the cards in the convenience store had been sold out, and some stores had also stopped selling the cards due to frequent scams. The man immediately sent her the addresses of several stores that still had the goods in stock. He also taught her to tell the sales staff that the cards were for her children if asked.
Whenever the victim hesitates, the scammer would bring up their blood oath and tell her that if she was truly in love, she would find a way to purchase the cards.
According to Zaobao, the victim’s family discovered what was happening after she tried to borrow money from her younger sister. Her younger sister also found out that the victim has not only lost $3,000 of “marriage certificate fees”, but also $2,500 of “membership fees”, eating up almost all the victim’s savings.
A police report has been made and investigations are ongoing.
The victim’s sister added that her sister works and is mentally unstable. She did not believe her family when they told her she was scammed.
Local actor Romeo Tan clarifies on Facebook
According to the victim’s sister, she shared that her sister usually leaves comments under Romeo Tan’s posts on his official Facebook page and some accounts pretending to be him would reply to her comments. She believes that this is how the scammer found her sister.
“These scammers will only go after vulnerable groups who are easily deceived because they are incapable of protecting themselves. The people most directly affected are their family members. I hope that as a public figure, Romeo Tan could manage his Facebook page,” she added.
In a Facebook post, Romeo Tan made a clarification saying: “I would like to remind everyone to be vigilant and aware that I will never ask my followers for money or suggest meeting up for a private meal.”
After seeing the actor’s clarification, the victim reportedly reached out to Lianhe Zaobao, telling them that she is now aware that she has been scammed and regretted transferring money to the scammer.
“I had a video call with the scammer, and he looked very stiff when he spoke. I have been a fan of Romeo Tan for more than 10 years, and I didn’t expect him (the person he has been chatting with) to be a liar.”
MP Tin Pei Ling: Let’s do more to ensure digital safety
Earlier last week (10 January) in Parliament, Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling, along with several other MPs, debated the motion on building a safe digital society.
In her speech, MP Tin Pei Ling noted that going digital is bo bian one because the whole world is also doing so, but it also means that there will be a lot of challenges such as scams and online harms.
While the Gahmen has already put in place initiatives to protect and enable Singaporeans in the digital economy and digital society, she also added that everyone, including you and I, also needs to take care of the people around us and do our part to protect ourselves from all these digital scams.
“If everyone is willing to take on a larger share of the responsibility, we can protect more people and reduce the possible harms to the ordinary citizen,” she said.
“With stronger partnerships between the Government, industry players and our people, Singapore can be the beacon and lead the world in fostering trust in the digital future through a safe and inclusive digital society,” she continued.
So hor, what happened to this person who tio scammed by Romeo Tan’s impersonator is a good example that we need to look out for the people around us, especially the vulnerable ones.
No harm in being a bit more paranoid! Don’t give out your personal information, don’t fall in love with people you have never met too easily, don’t click on sussy baka links, don’t share your one-time password with other people… Aiya, you know de. Just be careful lah!
