122 victims in Singapore conned in lottery scams this year

Asia-Pacific News

Sep 23, 2007, 2:59 GMT

Singapore - Victims have been conned out of 1.5 million Singapore dollars (1 million US dollars) in lottery and lucky-draw scams so far this year, a local media report said on Sunday. The 122 people were duped into handing over their money after receiving phone calls or messages claiming they had won prizes in lucky draws overseas. The smallest amount was 6 Singapore dollars (4 US dollars) and the highest 353,000 Singapore dollars (235,000 US dollars), said the police breakdown in The Sunday Times. Ruses take different forms and the trickers change tactics regularly, police said in warning the public to be careful. Often victims receive messages on their mobile phones, notifying them to call an overseas number to claim prizes. To obtain the winnings, they are asked to pay 'administrative' or 'processing' fees via remittance companies in China. Successful fraudsters either make up more stories seeking additional payments or abscond with what they have collected. Since 2005, at least six people involved in get-rich-quick scams have been caught and jailed in Singapore for 14 months to three years. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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122 victims in Singapore conned in lottery scams this year

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