#BeAProAgainstCons with OCBC's security measures and anti-scam tips

The scammers will message their targets via social media or messaging platforms (e.g. Facebook, WeChat, Telegram or Line). They will claim to be a stockbroker, financial advisor, portfolio manager or employee of a financial services company.

They will offer a low-risk, high-return investment opportunity or encourage their target to invest in overseas companies.

They may direct their targets to professional-looking websites or resources to back up their claims.

These usually include high-return investment schemes (e.g. shares, mortgage, or real estate); or options, cryptocurrency or foreign currency trading opportunities.

The scammers will usually contact their targets several times. Some targets are eventually persuaded into agreeing to invest.

Scammers will ask their targets to share personal details (e.g. NRIC numbers or passport details) on the pretext of helping them complete a form for the investment. They will then request that the targets transfer money to banks (often based in China or Hong Kong) and/or pay large sums in administrative and security fees, and taxes.

There have been several cases where scammers – claiming to be from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority or Hong Kong Overseas Control Centre – have asked their targets for a ‘deposit’ before supposed ‘profits’ from investments can be released.

Scammers may ask their targets to transfer the money into different accounts each time. They may claim that it is for security reasons or because they are an overseas entity – in fact, it is to make their scam harder to detect.

Scammers will sometimes ask their targets to download or invest through certain apps, promising quick and high returns. To trick their targets into believing that the scheme is legitimate, they will use money that other people have invested to pay their targets some initial returns. Their early targets – now believing in the scheme – may then be encouraged into persuading friends and family members to invest in the same scheme. The cycle then continues. Eventually, the scammers runs out of money to pay as initial returns or cannot find new targets; they will then disappear with the money they have left. These are known as Ponzi schemes.

Scammers may reach out to their targets via social media or messaging apps and share about supposed ‘opportunities’ to invest in cryptocurrencies. Although many legitimate businesses trade in cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and unregulated in Singapore.

Cryptocurrency scammers can be very convincing. They will make claims of high returns on social media platforms. They are also increasingly active in advertising on platforms like Discord and Telegram.

Once a target engages with their advertisement, post or message, scammers may direct him/her to a sham online platform through which the target can supposedly trade in cryptocurrency. They may offer to make an trade on their behalf and/or share details of a (bogus) app or website through which the target can trade.

Scammers may also encourage their target to buy cryptocurrency through a fake exchange or ask him/her to send money to a fake company that will supposedly do so on his/her behalf.

To get their victim to invest more, they will create and show fake data on their victim’s supposed profits or losses (e.g. using custom MetaTrader platforms).

Victims of such scams will eventually realise that they are unable to withdraw any money via the bogus trading platform. The scammers, upon being contacted, will make excuses for the delays in withdrawal, ban the victim from the bogus platform or shut the platform down entirely. They will then disappear – and so will the victims’ money.

Some investment scammers will take their scam step further and impersonate a member of their target’s opposite sex to get close to him/her. They may set up fake dating profiles and/or contact their target via dating sites, apps and social media.

They will generally ask to take the conversation to a messaging app like WhatsApp or WeChat where they can exchange encrypted messages. They will claim it is because such messaging apps are more private; in reality, it is because it becomes harder for the authorities to track them.

Scammers will try to gain their target’s trust by doing things like expressing strong feelings in a short period of time and sharing (untrue) private details. Once they believe they have gained the target’s trust, they will present them with an ‘unmissable’ investment opportunity.

They will claim to have personally benefited from the investment opportunity and invite their target to start by transferring small amounts of money to them for the investment. They may share some quick ‘returns’ to encourage their target to invest even larger sums of money.

Once the target runs out of money to invest or decides he/she wants to withdraw some funds, the scammer will stop all communications and disappear with the money.