As a young Singapore Airlines stewardess, Germaine Chow scrimped and saved by eating cup noodles and biscuits.
But all it took was one bad investment decision to wipe out $12,000 of her precious savings.
That was some 10 years ago, and the 32-year-old considers it one of the more “painful” lessons she’s had to learn.
Now an entrepreneur who helms multiple businesses with her husband, Germaine tells AsiaOne that the experience cemented her “fail-forward” philosophy in life, and her penchant for hard assets — property, Bearbricks and Rolex watches, to name a few.
Promises of sky-high returns
It all started when her sister-in-law’s friend introduced a foreign exchange (forex) trading platform to her and assured her that she would “see the money grow”.
The promised returns of 16 per cent per annum proved too attractive to resist. Admitting that she let her guard down, she invested $12,000 with the man, a “huge portion” of her savings at the time.
She wasn’t the only one who took the bait — her husband also invested $12,000, and her father-in-law sank in about $60,000.
But shortly after, they realised they couldn’t withdraw the money. And all their attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
This remains a common scam tactic in Singapore. In 2020, there were 1,102 investment scams. In all, victims lost at least $69.5 million.
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According to the National Crime Prevention Council’s ScamAlert website, people offering “unreasonably high”…
