October 15, 2025

SINGAPORE – When her mother first told her about an investment proposition from someone overseas, alarm bells went off immediately and she warned the older woman to stay away.

Unfortunately, the warning fell on deaf ears, and her mother, a businesswoman, was eventually scammed of $568,000.

Speaking to The Straits Times in a recent interview, the daughter, who wanted to be known only as Ms Ong, said there was nothing more she could have done to stop her mother from falling for the scam.

“I told my mother to be careful but she was confident, headstrong and had 100 per cent faith in her contact. It was obvious it was a scam. But I didn’t want to argue because I didn’t want to end up having a bad relationship with her,” said the 30-year-old Singaporean, who runs a tuition agency in Yishun.

Her mother, who wanted to be known only as Ms Sophia, 62, said she transferred sums of money several times between January and May this year to a man based in China who gave his name as Lin Cheng. He is now uncontactable.

“I trusted him very much because he seemed very knowledgeable and kind-hearted. I did not expect him to be a scammer,” said Ms Sophia, who lodged a police report on May 31.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the police confirmed a report had been made and investigations are ongoing.

Ms Sophia, a Singaporean, said she was first contacted by Lin Cheng via a WhatsApp message on Dec 16 last year. It was a foreign number and to this day, she does not know…

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