Fake friend scammers’ new ruse: Asking for favours instead of money

SINGAPORE – Syndicates behind the fake friend scams are now employing new tactics to trick victims, such as requesting favours instead of asking for money up front.

These requests could be as innocuous as visiting a website to make a restaurant reservation, or downloading an app to help them purchase furniture, the police said.

Victims may unknowingly be entering their bank details on phishing websites, or downloading malware on their mobile phones.

Instead of getting victims to transfer money to scammers themselves, as in the previous mode of fake friend call scams, scammers now use such details and malware to make transactions without the victims’ knowledge.

This new ruse was revealed by the head of the Anti-Scam Centre, Superintendent Michelle Tay.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, she delved into the tactics of fake friend call scams, calling them one of the top trending scams this year.

From January to May 2023, at least 3,000 victims lost $10.2 million to fake friend call scams, according to the latest police figures. This is almost six times the number of victims compared with the same period in the previous year, when 521 people lost $7.5 million.

In May alone, 859 people were duped by fake friend call scams, with losses totalling at least $2.7 million.

Supt Tay said some scammers may use Singapore prepaid SIM cards to call victims. This means their numbers might not have the “+65” prefix, which is a usual sign of a scam call.

In such cases, scammers call victims and pretend to be their acquaintance like an old schoolmate, a former business partner or even a previous renovation contractor, said Supt Tay.

They are usually able to call victims by name, and subsequently ask victims to guess who they are. Whatever names victims throw out, scammers will assume those identities.

The scammers will soon after begin to ask for favours or loans.

“The scammers mainly capitalise on the element of friendship... and also exploit the kindness of the victim, who may feel compelled to help a friend,” said Supt Tay.

Most victims said the callers sounded just like their friends, which convinced them that the requests were genuine.

Supt Tay revealed that her own family member was a victim. Her 72-year-old uncle received a call from a man whose voice sounded just like an old friend’s.

“He could call my uncle by his name, so he thought it was real,” she said.

The “friend” said he wanted to open a restaurant, and asked for help to transfer $2,000 to one of his contractors.

Thinking that such business deals had to be settled quickly, Supt Tay said her uncle immediately made the transfer. He was also in a rush that day, and did not verify the caller’s identity.

He sensed something was wrong when the man called back to ask for more money. On Supt Tay’s advice, he alerted the police.

A 69-year-old woman fell victim to a similar scam in April, said the police. She thought the person on the line was someone she knew, as he had the same name as one of her colleagues.

He claimed to have lost his mobile phone, and told her to save his new number. Later, he asked for a loan as he intended to open a cafe.

She transferred $1,500 via PayNow. After pocketing the money, the “friend” became uncontactable.

The victim called her colleague on his original number, and realised she was scammed.

The police advise the public to be wary of unusual phone calls or messages from such “friends”, and to always verify the caller’s identity via video call or by meeting in person.

Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department and the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department earlier this year crippled two overseas syndicates behind fake friend call scams.

A raid in February at three apartment complexes in Johor saw 11 men and a woman arrested. The syndicate is believed to be linked to more than 360 reports, with over 490 victims and losses of more than $1.3 million.

A month later, three men were arrested after a raid on a Johor apartment complex. The syndicate is believed to be linked to over 40 police reports made in Singapore, with victims losing more than $250,000.