‘He sounded too happy': Exchange student's gut feeling helps Singapore police foil S$70,000 fake bail plot
SINGAPORE, May 10 — Mike Chen didn't plan on staging a takedown during his exchange programme in Singapore — but when scammers came knocking, he turned the tables.
According to The Straits Times (ST), the 20-year-old Chinese student was nearly conned out of $70,000 (RM230,000) in a government official impersonation scam, one of over 1,500 such cases reported in Singapore last year.
Victims of these scams reportedly lost S$151.3 million in 2024 alone.
It started in February when a man claiming to be a Chinese investigation officer contacted Chen, accusing him of being linked to an international money laundering case.
The caller demanded constant video surveillance via laptop and five daily check-ins by text. The monitoring lasted a month before the scammer told Chen he could be 'bailed out' for S$70,000.
'The 'investigation officer' said he would be my bailor, but I had to have the money in my bank account,' said Chen to ST.
'I trusted him because I had been speaking to him every day for a month, and I felt like I had developed a relationship with him.'
To raise the funds, Chen was told to lie to his parents — claiming local authorities were investigating him for selling personal data after losing his passport.
On April 9, Chen was instructed to withdraw the money and deliver it in two batches to a 'colleague' in Singapore. He handed over S$40,000 at the first meeting, but started having doubts.
The scammer's tone had shifted — from stern to strangely cheerful.
'He sounded quite happy, and spoke to me informally. I also thought their method of making me give them cash was old-fashioned,' he added.
Chen shared his suspicions with a classmate, who helped alert the police.
Then, channelling full detective mode, Chen went ahead with the second handover — this time with officers waiting nearby.
At noon, police arrested the 27-year-old runner and recovered the earlier S$40,000, along with a fake police ID.
The man, a student in Singapore, is believed to have been a victim himself, tricked into collecting money from others under the pretext of assisting official investigations.
He's now being investigated for cheating and personation offences.
Police reminded the public that no government agency — local or foreign — will ever request bank transfers or personal banking details over the phone or via text.
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