SINGAPORE – When she received a call from a man who aggressively demanded money out of the blue, Madam Agnes Ho, 79, wondered if the caller was genuine.
The call came well after normal working hours and he never addressed her by name.
Yelling over the phone, the man, who did not state who he was, said he waited a long time for her to pick up the call.
Madam Ho, who spoke to The Straits Times during a Youths Help Seniors Go Digital workshop on Sunday (June 5), said she had read about scams in the newspapers and heard from people she knew, including a friend in Malaysia who transferred more than $10,000 to scammers.
“He kept shouting because he wanted me to panic,” said Madam Ho, who added that she quickly hung up on him.
“These scammers seem to know our weaknesses so well, but I know better than to believe them,” she added of her experience, which occurred in late May – just one of many similar calls she received.
The workshop, which aims to guide seniors to use tech safely and confidently, was organised by Lianhe Zaobao, and attended by about 120 seniors at the National Library in Victoria Street.
They were paired with students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Chinese media and communications school as trainers presented topics, from how to use WhatsApp to how to claim Community Development Council vouchers to updates on scam trends, such as phishing.
Madam Ho, who is retired, said: “I wanted to come and learn because with my age it’s very tough to understand technology…
