Over more than two months, Mr Lim was repeatedly messaged by a girl he did not know who had earlier added him on WeChat. Lim, 26, had installed the app on his phone on the urging of his friends, who were all on it. He had been using it for two years, and this was the first time he was being contacted by a girl he did not know. Right after he accepted her friend request, though, she asked him if they could meet up. He said no repeatedly, owing to his shifts, but when he eventually agreed when he got a rest day.
When he arrived at the meeting point — Clementi MRT station — he started to feel worried. His plan was to simply make a friend, grab a coffee perhaps, and then head on to dinner with his friends in town. He then received a phone call from her, asking him, with a distinctly mainland Chinese accent, if he had reached the station. He said yes, and she promptly hung up, giving way to another call that came in almost immediately.
So far, those who were cheated have been men, and were initially contacted by foreign women on WeChat and iAround, say police. In some cases, sexual favours were promised in exchange for the Alipay purchase cards, they added, and scammers would either call victims or communicate with them via online messaging. If you think you have been approached by an Alipay scammer, please call the police hotline at or dial for urgent Police assistance.
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