90 cents left in bank account: Pregnant woman loses nearly $60k after falling for tingkat delivery scam

[kobayashiGT]

Source: https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/90-cents-left-bank-account-pregnant-woman-loses-nearly-60k-after-falling-tingkat-delivery

A pregnant woman wanted to get healthier meals but ended up losing her entire savings after falling victim to a scam.

The 32-year-old woman, surnamed Yan, had chanced upon a Facebook advertisement of a tingkat meal service on Sept 4, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Enticed by the $5 set meal consisting one meat and two vegetables, she contacted the seller through WhatsApp, who later gave her a link to download an APK file to make payment.

Despite multiple attempts, Yan was unable to download the file on her mobile phone and hence told the seller to cancel her order.

While the seller sent her voice messages urging for patience, she ignored them as she had lost interest in the tingkat meals, Yan said.

She only noticed something amiss two days later.

"I couldn't even withdraw $50 from my bank account," Yan told the Chinese evening daily. 

Puzzled by this, Yan immediately called the bank, and was reportedly informed that over $58,000 had been transferred out of her savings and deposit accounts.

Yan filed a police report on the same day and was told that she had likely fallen for a malware scam.

She told the Shin Min that although the APK file download was unsuccessful, her phone became extremely hot, and she was unable to open her mobile banking app.

The woman also said that she has never divulged her bank account details, OTP, or Singpass information to anyone.

"The next time someone asks me to download anything, I'll never dare to do so again," Yan added.

Left with 94 cents in her bank account

The scam wiped out Yan's savings, leaving her with 94 cents in her bank account, she said.

Yan told Shin Min that she had scrimped and saved nearly $60,000 over the course of the seven years she has been working in Singapore.

The incident also disrupted her plans of returning to Malaysia in November to give birth.

Seeing her predicament, Yan's colleagues chipped in to raise some money and presented her with several red packets to help cover her living expenses.

Yan's husband, who works in Malaysia, also rushed to Singapore after discovering that his wife had fallen for a scam.

Rise in malware scams

Noting a rise in malware scams in Singapore, the police have advised members of the public not to download any suspicious APK files on their devices as they may contain phishing malware.

The following precautionary measures should be adopted:

• Add anti-virus/anti-malware applications, and update your devices’ operating systems and applications regularly to be protected by the latest security patches
• Check developer information on the application listing and only download and install applications from official app stores
• Tell authorities, family, and friends about scams and report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately

If you suspect that your phone is infected with malware, you should do the following:

• Switch to 'flight mode', turn off WiFi and run an an anti-virus scan on your phone
• Check your bank account, Singpass and other accounts for any unauthorised transaction
• If there are unauthorised transactions, report the matter to the bank, relevant authorities, and lodge a police report

In the event that there is no malware found on your device, do a "factory reset" and change important passwords. 

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688.

[13177]

This woman said she never divulged her bank account details, OTP, or Singpass information, file download was unsuccessful and yet still can get scam from her entire saving. I still don't understand how it works, how these scammers can easily swipe out money from other people's bank accounts. 😅

Anyway, this woman worked for 7 years and at the age of 32 year old can save $60k, not bad siah. Her salary must be quite high. 

[Soya]

Everytime same story: clicking on links in FB 

 

[Raychay]

Why these people never read the news?

So many cases already!

[Watwheels]

Ppl should know by now not to DL any unsecured and uncertified APK files. They are basically downloading a trojan horse file into their phones. Be it from whatsapp meta or whatever.

The bank they are using is also at fault for not notifying the user when so much funds are transfered at such short time frames. I wonder if it is the popular local bank.

[13177]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:35 AM, Watwheels said:

Ppl should know by now not to DL any unsecured and uncertified APK files. They are basically downloading a trojan horse file into their phones. Be it from whatsapp meta or whatever.

The bank they are using is also at fault for not notifying the user when so much funds are transfered at such short time frames. I wonder if it is the popular local bank.

I think many banks don't notify the user when funds are transferred out from a bank account. Maybe there is no such policy from bank to do such thing. This is why such scams still happening and scammers so easy to empty money from people's bank accounts.

[Watwheels]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:47 AM, 13177 said:

I think many banks don't notify the user when funds are transferred out from a bank account. Maybe there is no such policy from bank to do such thing. This is why such scams still happening and scammers so easy to empty money from people's bank accounts.

Then the loophole must be in the bank app. I think the current single security tier like fingerprint or face recognition to access the bank app may not be enough.

[Stary]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:56 AM, Watwheels said:

Then the loophole must be in the bank app. I think the current single security tier like fingerprint or face recognition to access the bank app may not be enough.

Once the scammer get remote access to the phone, finger print or face recognition also no use, cos the scammer can switch it off.

I say use back hardware token.  I have one that  I am still using till today.......the battery still strong....😆

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Starry

[inlinesix]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:47 AM, 13177 said:

I think many banks don't notify the user when funds are transferred out from a bank account. Maybe there is no such policy from bank to do such thing. This is why such scams still happening and scammers so easy to empty money from people's bank accounts.

The default notification amount is like $1k.

I have lowered it to $1.

[13177]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:03 AM, Starry said:

Once the scammer get remote access to the phone, finger print or face recognition also no use, cos the scammer can switch it off.

I say use back hardware token.  I still have one that  I am still using till today.......the battery still strong....😆

 

Use hardware token can deter scammers from emptying money in the bank account?

[Jamesc]

So its true!

Stupid people use FB!

[RadX]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:15 AM, Soya said:

Everytime same story: clicking on links in FB 

 

What’s FB?

 

I only know ppl who are FB… same?😂😂

[RadX]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:17 AM, Jamesc said:

So its true!

Stupid people use FB!

How u use FB? Front or rear? Since u AC/DC 

[Mustank]

Buying iPhone for mom nao!!!

[jcmm]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:35 AM, Watwheels said:

 

The bank they are using is also at fault for not notifying the user when so much funds are transfered at such short time frames. I wonder if it is the popular local bank.

I am using UOB and POSB, they do send a sms notification when I transfer money. On the alert, we can set what type of notification and $$ limitation. 

In the scam case, if scammer is able to take control of your phone, dun think bank is able to notify the customer. I do agree there must be a mechanism to stop after a no. of oversea transfers, amount, etc. AI and technology are there to assist on these but guess "responsibility", "smart" are still on to the customer side.  

[BanCoe]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:18 AM, Raychay said:

Why these people never read the news?

So many cases already!

Sensational news or SPH mainstream is the question ……. Sinkies always think we are #1 street oh well cyber smart as always ….. and this is not an AhLau case some more 

[BanCoe]

On 9/14/2023 at 11:05 AM, 13177 said:

Use hardware token can deter scammers from emptying money in the bank account?

But most Banks are doing away with physical token ….. like not  trendy ….. also tokens have to like change every 3-4 years …. Likely becos of batteries 

[Unltd]

People want to blame the banks and hold the banks accountable for actions which they unknowingly perform themselves, not everybody is savvy.

but when the banks take action and prevent it, the same people cry loss of freedom… many cry father, cry mother when OCBC introduced their security measure to prevent losses when phones are high jacked.

https://www.ocbc.com/group/media/release/2023/ocbc-anti-malware-security-feature-prevented-losses-of-over-two-million-within-1-month-of-launch.page?