S'pore woman loses over S$100,000 to scammer, was promised investment would pay for kids’ education

A Singaporean woman in the finance sector, Ruth, lost over S$100,000 to a scammer named Rob. The scam started when Rob, who was recommended to Ruth by a friend on a dating app, approached her about buying insurance. During their conversation, Rob convinced Ruth that investing in a stablecoin staking investment would provide no risk, despite the volatility of cryptocurrencies.

Ruth, who had no prior experience with crypto investments, was persuaded by Rob to invest large sums of money. Over four months, Ruth lost over S$100,000. Rob built trust with Ruth by sharing personal details about himself, including pictures of himself and his daughter, and even sent her a gift after a party his daughter attended.

He claimed to work for an established energy company in Singapore and sent Ruth a picture of a Malaysian ID he claimed was his. However, upon further investigation, Mothership found no such individual registered under that ID number. The scam escalated as Rob moved Ruth's funds to a less popular app, Qevorinex, which has little to no digital footprint and is rated unsafe by Scam Advisor.

When Ruth became suspicious of the app, Rob accused her of insider trading and threatened penalties and fees. Ruth paid due to a sense of obligation and to retrieve her remaining funds, which she believed were locked or frozen due to the penalties. Despite filing a police report, Ruth is now left with a significant loss and fears that she may not recover her money, as Rob has been using a spoofed number that has been identified as a fake.