A 71-year-old man in Singapore lost his retirement savings of S$21,688 after falling victim to a lottery scam advertised on Facebook. The elderly man, who is now unemployed, said he has been left penniless and survives on instant noodles and bread.
The victim, identified as Yang (transliteration), encountered the advertisement in late August, according to Shin Min Daily News, as reported by Mothership.
How the lottery scam unfolded
Yang initially tried calling the number listed in the advertisement but could not get through. In early September, he received a return call from someone claiming to have connections within Singapore Pools.
The caller claimed these contacts could provide winning lottery numbers before each draw, but demanded payment for the information.
{{/usCountry}}The caller claimed these contacts could provide winning lottery numbers before each draw, but demanded payment for the information.
{{/usCountry}}The scammers reportedly charged S$1,988 for first-prize numbers, S$1,688 for second-prize numbers and S$1,388 for third-prize numbers.
When Yang said he could not afford these amounts, they offered another arrangement, asking him to pay S$500 for account registration and another S$500 for five sets of 4D lottery numbers.
On September 5, Yang received the numbers and was promised a potential prize of S$300,000. However, none matched the winning results.
When he questioned the scammers, they claimed the numbers were "sold out" because of their popularity. They then promised to arrange for an insider to alter the tickets.
The following day, Yang received a message claiming he had won the first prize, accompanied by a photograph of a cheque worth S$300,000.
Scammers demanded more payments
To collect his supposed winnings, Yang was asked to transfer another S$1,488.
On September 9, the scammers demanded S$5,850 in “handling fees”, claiming that transferring such a large sum could raise money-laundering suspicions.
Two days later, they demanded another S$7,840.
Yang filed a police report on September 16 after failing to receive the promised money. However, he subsequently transferred another S$3,500, hoping to secure the payout.
Left without savings or employment
Yang eventually realised he had been cheated after receiving further payment demands and reading newspaper reports about similar scams.
His cleaning contract had also expired, leaving him unemployed.
He told Shin Min Daily News that he had lost S$21,688 and could now afford only instant noodles and bread.
Police investigations into the case are ongoing.