A 59-year-old private-hire driver has lodged a police report after being cheated of more than S$2,000 by scammers who claimed to be selling 4D “inside information” that could win him the S$300,000 first prize. He later discovered that his photo had been altered and used online as a fake success story to lure others.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Zhu Jin Zong (transliteration) said he came across a Facebook post late last month offering so-called “inside tips” for 4D numbers, with the seller claiming to have access to winning numbers.
“I contacted the person through Facebook, and they said they knew someone inside Singapore Pools who could get the first, second and third prize numbers for every draw. But if I wanted the numbers, I had to pay. For the first prize, it would cost over a thousand dollars.”
Zhu said the person did not immediately ask him for money and even asked if he was facing financial difficulties.
“I told him I was indeed having some difficulties. He was very quick to say he could help pay first, and I would only need to pay a S$328 membership fee. At that time, I believed him and transferred the money.”
After that, the two continued communicating via Telegram and WhatsApp. On December 6, the person told Zhu the first prize number for that day.
“They initially told me it was 4877, so I spent S$100 to buy that number. They also asked me to take a selfie holding the betting slip and send it to them, which I did.”
Zhu said he was contacted again later that afternoon and told that the first prize number had changed, and that the other party had already placed a bet on his behalf using the “actual” winning number.
That night, the first prize number drawn was 1419. Zhu said he received a photo of a betting slip showing that number.
“They said I had won S$300,000 and that they would help me collect the cheque and deposit it directly into my bank account. They even sent me a photo of the cheque. I really thought I had won and was extremely happy.”
While he was still celebrating, the scammers asked him to pay an additional S$1,800 as a “tip”.
“They said the tip was for the person who provided the inside information. At that time, I felt that since I was about to receive the prize money, paying a tip was fine.”
However, after he transferred the money, the scammers continued to stall and told him that his bank account could not receive such a large sum at one go. They then asked him to pay more than S$4,000 as an “adjustment fee”.
Zhu said this raised red flags, and he decided to report the matter to the police.
“When I later looked carefully at the photo of the cheque they sent me, the signature part looked a bit strange. On top of that, they kept asking me to pay more money. That’s when I knew I had been cheated.”
He later discovered that the scammers had altered the selfie he sent earlier and posted it on Facebook as a supposed “successful case”.
“They changed the original number 4877 to the winning number 1419 and wrote that I had won the S$300,000 first prize. They were using me as a success story to lure the public.”
Zhu said he decided to speak up to warn others. “This is all my hard-earned money. I hope there won’t be any more victims,” he said.
After realising he had been cheated, Zhu also contacted Singapore Pools, which told him that he had fallen victim to a scam.
“Singapore Pools said it is impossible for anyone to provide any inside information. I was tricked.”
When contacted, the police confirmed that a report has been lodged and that investigations are ongoing.
