Woman, 46, loses life savings of S$5,500 in wedding blood vow to a 'Romeo Tan' pretending to be the actor
Not a Love Story.
https://mothership.sg/2024/01/romeo-tan-scam/
Julia Yee
Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Blinded by adoration for Mediacorp actor Romeo Tan, a 46-year-old fan went searching for his love, and thought she found it.
Unfortunately, she'd instead found herself in a scam which left her bereft of S$5,500.
Sealed with blood
The victim's sister, called Yan, told Lianhe Zaobao that her sibling had started conversing with a man claiming to be the local star on multiple platforms.Yan said the victim usually left comments on Tan's official Facebook posts, which invited fake "Romeo Tan" accounts to reply to her.
Screenshots of the pair's WhatsApp chat showed the scammer saying that he wanted to marry the victim in New York.
But first, he needed her to pay S$3,000 for their marriage certificate.
His account was classified as a "business chat", according to screenshots by Zaobao.
"This is not a game, you have to keep our promise," the scammer said.
The proof of his "sincerity"? A photo of him pricking his finger to make a "blood oath".
He urged the victim to make the same bloody vow.
Price of love
Enticing her with dreams of living in New York, with him buying her a diamond ring and a luxury car, the scammer lured the woman into forking out another S$2,000 so that his "agent" could apply for a permit and purchase a plane ticket for her.He later convinced her to buy more than S$2,000 worth of gaming cards, said Zaobao.
When she told him that the cards were sold out in a convenience store, he sent her alternative stores that supposedly had the goods in stock.
If the sales staff questioned her purchase, all she had to do was say that the cards were for her kids, "Romeo" said.
Whenever the victim hesitated in carrying out his demands, the scammer would remind her of their blood pact, saying that she would find a way if she really loved him.
The victim's family were alerted to the scam when she tried borrowing money from her sister.
They discovered that the victim had been bled of most of her life savings in the scam, including S$3,000 to the fake marriage certificate fees, on top of S$2,500 of "membership fees".
Yan made a police report on her sister's behalf.
She told Zaobao that the victim is mentally unstable, and did not believe her family when they told her that she had been scammed.
"I hope that Romeo Tan, as a public figure, could manage his Facebook page properly," Yan said.
The real Romeo says
On Jan. 9, 2024, the real Romeo Tan came out to say that he has recently received several scam alerts regarding someone impersonating him on Facebook and Instagram."I want 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. I am deeply sorry for anyone who has been affected by this," he added.
Tan told Mothership that he feels helpless too on his end, although he has been reporting all the fake accounts whenever he comes across one.
"But it was a bit too many to do it on my own. So I urge everyone to help me report if they suspect any [account to be fake]," he said.
Tan announced that he would be turning off or restricting the comment section on his accounts.
In light of her idol's clarification, the victim told Zaobao that she is now aware that she had been fooled, and regretted being tricked.
