A 70-year-old retiree lost a total of $16,500 after falling victim to a scam involving a fake official and a “secret code.”
According to a report by Shin Min Daily News, Madam Lee said she received a text on July 10 claiming that her “UnionPay insurance” was expiring. The message warned that $750 would soon be deducted from her bank account every month for 24 months.
Worried, she called the number in the message to clarify, saying she never bought any insurance. That’s when the scammer turned the story around, claiming she was now under investigation for being involved in a scam and needed to cooperate to clear her name.
The scammer asked about her background, whether she lived alone, and how many bank accounts she had. After finding out she lived alone, they told her to withdraw all her savings to “help with investigations.” They claimed that by checking the serial numbers on the banknotes, they could verify if the money was “clean.”
Madam Lee believed the story and withdrew $7,500 from two banks on July 12. She asked if she could hand over the money at the bank itself, but the scammer insisted she return home and meet someone downstairs. They even gave her a secret passcode, “900″, to verify the identity of the person collecting the money.
Sure enough, when she reached downstairs, a man was waiting near the rubbish chute. He approached her and said, “900.” Madam Lee handed him the cash, and he walked off immediately.
Two days later, she handed over another $9,000 in the same manner.
When she tried to contact the scammer again to report that she had passed over the money, he had disappeared. That was when she realised it was all a scam and filed a police report the next day.
The police have confirmed a report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.
