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BEWARE OF STREET SCAMS |
SCAMS REPORTED TO PJ IN RECENT YEARS |
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Spiritual Blessing |
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Activities |
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- Culprit A approaches the victim and claims he is on the way to visit a prophet to drive away evil spirits/bad luck.
- Culprit B appears, claiming that he knows the prophet himself. He insists the victim should surrender his valuables in a bag for the "magic" to work.
- Following the "ritual", Culprit B returns the bag to the victim and demands the bag be opened later.
- The victim later discovers the bag contains only worthless items.
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Advice |
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- Be alert when strangers approach to offer their advice/stories.
- Don't hand over any of your valuables to strangers.
- You should only contact trustworthy parties to carry out religious rituals for you.
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Lottery Fraud |
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Activities |
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- Culprit A informs the victim of his lottery win via either SMS, emails or letters.
- The victim is required to provide his bank account details for the transfer of the winnings.
- After depositing the winnings into the victim's bank account by cheque, the culprit asks the victim to pay a certain amount of tax.
- The victim later discovers the cheque has bounced and no cash has been deposited.
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Advice |
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- You have to enter a lottery to be a winner.
- Ignore any unsolicited SMS, emails or letters.
- Contact the host for confirmation if you did take part in a lottery.
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May I borrow you mobile? |
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Activities |
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- The culprit claims he has lost his wallet or his mobile has run out of battery.
- He asks the victim to keep hold of his worthless items or fake mobile as collateral to win your trust.
- He runs away with the mobile borrowed from the victim.
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Advice |
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- Don't trust any strangers.
- These scams are also very common in Mainland China and overseas.
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Borrowing money |
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Activities |
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- A decent looking culprit approaches the victim to borrow some money because he claims he has lost his wallet.
- The culprit promises he will return the money and provides the victim with his telephone number.
- The victim later discovers the contact number given is fake.
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Advice |
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- Don't trust any strangers.
- These scams are also very common in Mainland China and overseas.
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"Tout" |
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Activities |
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- Culprit A offers to sell you discounted merchandise such as gold jewellery, herbs or electronic parts.
- Culprit B appears as a passer-by and bluffs about the value of the goods.
- The victim later discovers the goods he purchased are counterfeit.
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Advice |
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- Be alert when stranger approaches.
- Avoid hearsay.
- Don't be fooled by deals that are too good to be true.
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Phishing for Bank Account Details |
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Activities |
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- Culprits set up bogus websites similar to major commercial banks'.
- Victims receive emails from the "bank" with a bogus hyperlink.
- Oblivious of the hoax, victims click on the bogus link and insert their personal data.
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Advice |
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- Banks will not ask you for personal data via email.
- Never click on any hyperlinks in emails, pop-up windows or links found by search engines to access any "bank" website.
- The safest way to enter any genuine website of a commercial bank is either to key in the bank's website on the address bar or bookmark the genuine link on your computer.
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Bogus Caller |
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Activities |
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- Culprit A calls the victim and claims his son has been kidnapped.
- Culprit B pretends to be the son of the victim and calls for help.
- Believing that his son is in danger, the victim pays the ransom as directed.
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Advice |
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- Stay calm
- Say your son's name wrong deliberately to test whether the caller is a swindler.
- Try to contact your son in the usual way before taking any action.
- Make sure your letter box is securely locked to avoid theft of family's personal information.
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Money Changing |
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Activities |
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Scenario 1 |
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- The culprit pays for an item with a $500 note. The shop assistant returns him with the change of $480.
- Later on the culprit says he has enough small change to pay for the item and demands his $500 back.
- The culprit then insists on paying with the $500 note. The shop assistant hands him back the change of $480, but in chaos and confusion, he fails to take the $500 note.
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Scenario 2 |
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- The culprit pays for the goods with a $1000 note and the shop assistance returns him with the change of $900.
- The culprit says he has decided not to buy the items and requests the $1000 note to be returned.
- In chaos and confusion, the shop assistant returns the $1,000 note without taking the $900 change back.
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Advice |
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- Handle only one transaction at a time.
- Make sure you receive the payment before handing the goods and the change to the customer.
- If a refund is demanded, take back the change and carefully count it before returning any money to the customer.
- In such difficult circumstances, be cantious so as to avoid losses.
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Nigerian Email Fraud |
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Activities |
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Scenario 1 |
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- Swindlers claim, either via emails, faxes or letters that they are in charge of a lump sum which must be transferred out of an African country to a foreign account.
- The victim is promised a share of the money but is required to provide various upfront fees for the transfer of the alleged funds.
- When the swindlers receive the money, inevitably the victim will never hear from them again.
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Activities |
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Scenario 2 |
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- The fraudster claims that he is dying from some terminal illness and wishes to donate his remaining property to charity before his death.
- To give credibility to his story, the fraudster says that he has once asked his relatives to help donate part of his property, but they have kept the donations to themselves, so he has to ask the victim for help. Besides, he especially notes that the donations must go to the victims of the South Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which most people have heard about.
- The victim is promised a substantial share of the money, but is required to pay various advance fees.
- Needless to say, the promise of reward never materialises.
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Advice |
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- Don't be fooled by deals that are too good to be true, besides, why would someone want to transfer you such a large amount of money when he has no acquaintance with you?
- Ignore any unsolicited emails, faxes or letters.
- Don't transfer any money to a stranger's bank account.
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OTHER STREET SCAMS INCLUDE: |
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Fake neighbour |
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Activities |
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- A man claimed he lived in the same building as an elderly woman and he wanted to borrow $100 because he ran out of small change. He promised he would return the money but he never did.
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Winning-Your-Trust Scam |
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Activities |
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- An elderly woman was approached by a woman in a park one day and had been acquainted since. The woman invited the elderly woman for a drink on the day she received her pension. The woman took her handbag away while the elderly woman left the table temporarily.
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Free Cake Scam |
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Activities |
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- An elderly woman was approached by a stranger who claimed to be a friend of his grandson and brought her a cake. The man later asked her to lend him $500. Without doubting his identity, she lent him the money and inevitably never saw this man again.
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Bogus Credit-Card-Lucky-Draw SMS |
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Activities |
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- A woman received a bogus SMS claiming that she could win "gift dollar" on her credit card on the condition of paying a registration fee in advance.
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Fake Gold |
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Activities |
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- An elderly man was approached by a man who claimed to be penniless and was willing to exchange a piece of gold jewellery for $100. The elderly man later discovered it was a counterfeit.
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Can I borrow some money? |
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Activities |
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- A student lent $20 to a stranger who claimed that his car had broken down.
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Double the Value |
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Activities |
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- A woman was invited by a stranger to go visit a "prophet" who could double the value of one's fortune. The woman put $60,000 in a bag and the "prophet" began his "magic". Following the ritual the culprit returned the bag to the woman and told her not to open it immediately for the magic to work. The woman only found out later that the money was swapped for some fruits and a big pile of newspaper.
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"Can I pay for it later?" |
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Activities |
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- A decent looking woman who claimed to have left her purse at home nearby after the meal, promised she would return to the café in a short while to pay but never did.
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