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FOILING PHONE SCAMMERS: The five Maybank staff members who helped thwart two kidnap scams (clockwise from top) Alex Wong, 28, Caroline Teo, 40, Serene Han, 33, Candy Lim, 42, and Angela Koa, 28. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
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DESPERATELY pressing a cellphone to her ear and looking confused, Madam Koh Eng Pien, 73, attracted the attention of the staff at a Maybank branch in Ang Mo Kio last month.
The employees suspected that something was amiss when she insisted on transferring $2,000 to a bank account in Malaysia.
'She was having difficulty writing down the name and account number of the recipient,' said assistant service manager Mr Alex Wong, 28, recently. 'I could also hear someone shouting at her through her cellphone.'
She had initially claimed that the money was for a friend, but later admitted it was a ransom for her kidnapped son.
The bank staff told her that it was probably a scam and advised her to call her relatives. When she did, Madam Koh found out that her 40-year-old son, a coffee shop supervisor, was at work.
Her case is far from unique, however. There has been a surge in phony kidnappings since last August.
The fraudsters usually target elderly parents or grandparents as they are easier to con.
According to the police, 11 people lost between $500 and $52,000 each in phone kidnap scams between last August and March this year.
Phone scams in general last year claimed 378 victims, who lost a total of $4.6 million.
While the scam involving Madam Koh was foiled, she told The Straits Times on Mondaythat it left her shaken.
She said: 'The voice sounded like my son's and I didn't want him hurt. Thank goodness it was not real.'
Madam Koh said she had received a call at around 2pm on April 22. A man's voice told her in Mandarin: 'We've kidnapped your son.'
This was followed by a cry of 'Mother, help me' in Teochew.
The caller demanded $50,000 or he would hurt her son. The ransom was then lowered to $2,000, which was all the money she could get at short notice.
A day later, staff members from the same Maybank branch foiled another kidnap scam.
This time, a 60-year-old man was told that his grandson had been kidnapped.
The initial $80,000 ransom was reduced to $2,000.
Seeing the man trembling in fear, the bank staff asked him to call his family and they told him that his grandson was fine.
Maybank staff members said they had been briefed about kidnap scams after a couple remitted $52,000 to Malaysian Maybank accounts in August last year as 'ransom' to free their 30-year-old son.
The son, a real estate manager, was actually safe at work.
The police advise people to pose questions to the kidnapper to verify the identity of the supposed victim.
For instance, they could ask the caller about number of family members living together or whether there are pets in the house.
Should repeated attempts at contacting the 'victim' fail, they should seek assistance from the police immediately.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LIM HENG LIANG
khush@sph.com.sg
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