The case of a man, 21, believed to have been kidnapped took an unexpected turn when the police found that the victim and his family had transferred more than $560,000 to scammers impersonating officials from China.
Acting on a scammer’s instructions, the victim had isolated himself in a hotel room in Singapore and recorded videos of himself with his hands placed behind his back to convince his family in China that he was in trouble, the police said in a statement on Monday (Jan 31).
The Straits Times understands that he complied because he was threatened by the scammers.
Last Friday, the police received a report at about 1.30am that a 21-year-old man had allegedly been kidnapped.
Based on the report, the police learnt that his family had been receiving videos of the victim and ransom demands from an unknown person with a Fujian accent who was believed to be in China.
Officers from the Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department and Commercial Affairs Department were activated and conducted an extensive search operation and investigations to locate the victim.
He was eventually found to be safe in a hotel on the same day at about 9.30am, about eight hours after the police report was made.
Preliminary investigations revealed the victim had received an unsolicited call purportedly from an officer from the Ministry of Health in November last year.
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The victim’s call was later redirected to other scammers who claimed to be police officers…
