SINGAPORE: Alan Teng is no stranger to crimes, having previously served as a police criminal investigator for 13 years.
But few cases sicken him quite like scams.
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Now the head of DBS Bank’s anti-scam team, Teng, 49, recalled an early case when the team was formed in 2019. A woman in her 50s had transferred her entire savings of S$170,000 (RM535,058) to scammers who had posed as Chinese officials.
Her bank account looked suspicious as the oddly large transaction was linked to a foreign bank account that had been flagged for money laundering, said Teng.
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After an hour-long phone call with the woman, Teng finally convinced her that she was being scammed. During the call, the woman had spoken on speakerphone at the urging of the scammers who manipulated her as they eavesdropped on the call.
Teng explained to her the typical tactics used by such scammers to trick victims – that they would rush her to make a large transaction and urge her to lie to the authorities.
The woman realised she had been conned as these were the precise instructions given by the fraudsters.
Teng said the bank managed to freeze her account before the money was transferred to the scammers.
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