Lucky draw scams on the rise, police remind public to stay vigilant
POSTED: 07 May 2013 6:17 PM
Police said the amount of money cheated from lucky draw scams has increased in recent years. Between January and March this year, 19 lucky draw scams were reported. Eight were successful and the scammers got away with S$410,000.
SINGAPORE: Police said the amount of money cheated from lucky draw scams has increased in recent years.
Between January and March this year, 19 lucky draw scams were reported.
Eight were successful and the scammers got away with S$410,000.
Last year, 327 lucky draw scams were reported.
181 successful scams cheated people of S$7.4 million, the highest in the last three years, and almost double the S$3.8 million lost in 2010 in lucky draw scams.
The police on Tuesday urged the public to remain vigilant against such scams, and adopt the necessary crime prevention measures.
The alert comes following another lucky draw scam on 26 April 2013, where a man was cheated of S$4,000.
On 17 April 2013, a 50-year-old man received a call from an unknown caller, who claimed to be calling from overseas.
The unknown caller informed the victim that he had won a S$68,000 lottery from an overseas turf club.
The victim was then requested to transfer a processing fee of S$4,000 (S$3,900 for insurance & S$100 for administrative work) to an unknown overseas bank account in order to claim the prize.
After some consideration, the victim subsequently transferred a total of S$4,000 through a remittance centre at a shopping mall along New Bridge Road, hoping that he could claim the attractive prize.
On 26 April 2013, he made a call to the unknown caller to inform about the transfer and at the same time enquired about how he could claim the prize.
The victim realised it was a scam when he was told to transfer another S$6,000 as membership fee, before the prize could be claimed.
He also found out that the S$4,000 was transferred to another country instead of the one mentioned by the unknown caller.
The victim then lodged a police report about the scam and made no further money transfers.
Police investigations into the lucky draw scam are ongoing.
Police say so far, biggest single amount cheated in such lucky draw scams was some S$1.127 million in June 2011.
The victims of lucky draw scams were from all walks of life, including the professionals, youths and senior citizens.
Police add that the scam is generally perpetrated in Mandarin, so the victims tend to be those who could speak Mandarin.
In most cases, the criminals would get the victims to make money transfer via banks.
There were also cases where the culprit asked the victim to make money transfer via remittance agencies.
The majority of these scams involved calls received from foreign numbers.
As for the modus operandi, police said in a typical lucky draw phone scam, the criminals would inform the victims that they had won an attractive prize such as a luxury car, luxury watch, air tickets or cash in a foreign lottery or lucky draw.
The victims would then be enticed to pay some form of processing fees or tax upfront in order to redeem the prize.
After the first payment, the victims would be continually engaged to make subsequent payments.
Most victims only realise that they have been cheated when the criminals become uncontactable or when they are advised by a family member or friend.
Police said winning a lucky draw or lottery does not require one to make any advance payment.
Police advised that when one receives such calls, do not make any advance payment to claim any prize money.
The police also said such notifications should be ignored, especially when one did not purchase any ticket or participate in any such draws.
They also said one should call the police immediately at “999” to report such cases.
- CNA/xq
