A pair of man and woman pretended to be Hong Kong tourists and claimed their bank cards had malfunctioned, scamming 800 SGD (about 2,630 MYR) in cash from a victim in Singapore, but were arrested by the police within 24 hours.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the Singapore Police Force issued a statement on the 5th, saying that on September 3rd, a 31-year-old Chinese man and a 30-year-old Chinese woman posed as Hong Kong tourists and approached a victim for help outside a supermarket in Jurong Circle, western Singapore.
They claimed their bank cards had issues and urgently needed cash to pay a hotel fee of 800 SGD. The man also produced a forged bank transfer receipt and a gold ring—falsely claimed to be worth 11,980 MYR—as “collateral” to trick the victim out of cash.
The victim later discovered the transfer was not received and that the ring was fake, and reported to the police the following day.
The police then quickly identified the suspects within 24 hours, seizing 15 fake gold rings, 1,578 SGD in cash, and several mobile phones containing forged transfer receipts.
The pair were charged in court on the 6th. If convicted of fraud, they could face up to ten years in jail and a fine.