SINGAPORE - After six months of trying to pay back banks, moneylenders and creditors, Christine (not her real name) finally started bankruptcy proceedings over a huge debt. The 37-year-old Malaysian nurse working in Singapore is a victim of a pig-butchering scam.<\/p>\n
This hybrid of romance and investment scams see fraudsters pretend to be a love interest to swindle unsuspecting partners.<\/p>\n
With a total debt of $270,000 and no recourse, Christine attended a court hearing on Thursday (Feb 17) to declare bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
\"If possible, I wouldn't want to declare bankruptcy, but it's a better option for me now,\" said Christine, who is originally from Penang, Malaysia, breaking down in tears over the phone.<\/p>\n
Having been apart from her family in Malaysia because of Covid-19 related travel restrictions, the loneliness drove her to seek companionship in a mystery stranger who sent her a direct message on Instagram.<\/p>\n
The stranger claimed to be a 34-year-old Shanghainese interior designer, based in Vancouver, Canada.<\/p>\n
A friendship quickly sparked, and they were soon talking daily via texts and voice calls.<\/p>\n
He seemed legitimate enough, sharing pictures and videos from his daily life - whether it was pictures of his meals, or him skiing while on holiday.<\/p>\n
\"He kept saying to me 'why don't you find a partner, you don't want to end up stuck in an old folks' home alone without a family',\" said Christine.<\/p>\n
\"I only wanted to remain as friends with him since he was a free-thinker... but when he gave in and said he would follow me to church, that's when I gave in too.\"<\/p>\n
Three weeks into the conversation, he brought up investments.<\/p>\n
She started off small, and eventually ended up investing US$5,000 (S$6,700) in the first month.<\/p>\n
In the midst of it, she had lost $30,000 in a separate loan scam.<\/p>\n
Her new love interest, who consoled her through this loss, suggested that she could make back the $30,000 \"pretty easily\", if she invested in his platform.<\/p>\n
He even pumped $10,000 into her account to convince her.<\/p>\n
He reeled her in further, promising to fly over from Vancouver in October, to make it in time for a surgical procedure for her heart that she had to undergo.<\/p>\n
She pumped in around $150,000, borrowed via bank loans, in order to keep the investments rolling. He also helped her with purchasing and selling shares.<\/p>\n
\"When I saw the profits reaching the target of $30,000, I wanted to pull out because it was very stressful to keep borrowing money and making enough to pay it back with interest,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"I even told him I wanted to break up,\" she said.<\/p>\n
But the scammer threatened to take his life. \"He said to me, 'Why are you leaving me? We've been through all this, we still have a long way to our future.'\"<\/p>\n
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He also offered to resign from his job and move to Singapore, and get a permanent resident pass via his friend's company.<\/p>\n
Convinced, she stayed on. The promise of the relationship also drove her to invest more money.<\/p>\n
She funded this by going to moneylenders, and selling her car.<\/p>\n
\"I also managed to borrow from friends and family also saying it was for urgent use... They know my character and that I'd never borrowed money before,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Taking out a mortgage on her house in Malaysia was the last resort.<\/p>\n
In September last year - her last investment - she pumped in $70,000. At that point, she had invested a total of $240,000 on the platform.<\/p>\n
It was her father who warned her about investment scams, telling her she needed to make sure she could withdraw her funds.<\/p>\n
He sent her a link to an article on a Chinese website about pig-butchering scams, about a woman who had lost around $500,000.<\/p>\n
When she read the article, she got a shock. It had photos of the same man she had been speaking to for the last four months.<\/p>\n
The red flags started to make sense.<\/p>\n
The investment platform she was on could be accessed only by a dedicated website and not via an established app or trading platform like Kraken, Gemini or Crypto.com<\/p>\n
Also he did not want to do video calls with her. He said: \"We have to keep some surprise for when I see you.\"<\/p>\n
When she confronted him about it, he denied it and said he was disappointed with her accusation.<\/p>\n
In a panic, she then tried to withdraw $140,000 she had in the account but was told by the customer service site that they did not have a merchant online that could do the transaction. She hit this wall several more times.<\/p>\n
When she eventually got one online with his assistance, they told her that in order to withdraw such a large amount and for \"safety purposes\", she would have to top up the funds and invest a further $240,000.<\/p>\n
Upon realising that her account was frozen, she found Singapore-based non-profit Global Anti-Scam Organisation (Gaso) online, which confirmed that she had been scammed. They advised her not to top up the funds.<\/p>\n
Christine she hit her lowest point in September to December last year, when she contemplated suicide.<\/p>\n
\"Banks were calling me daily at work,\" she said. \"I got so stressed when I was unable to pick up their calls.\"<\/p>\n
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Given the amount of money that she owed, she did not qualify for the Debt Repayment Scheme, which assists debtors with a regular income and debts not exceeding $150,000 to avoid bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
In the last five months, she has attempted to pay back as much of her debts as possible, even taking up part-time jobs and working on her days off and public holidays.<\/p>\n
However, her salary of around $4,000 a month is barely enough to cover the amount owed - $1,200 a month as part of a company loanand $1,000 a month to pay off moneylenders.<\/p>\n
The rental for her current shared housing in a HDB flat takes up another $850 per month, while she pays $700 a month for a property in Penang.<\/p>\n
This leaves her with all of $250 a month for any other expenses.<\/p>\n
Her last contact with the scammer was in October last year, after which she made a police report.<\/p>\n
However, she has no means of recouping her losses.<\/p>\n
Christine hopes that by sharing her story, and the modus operandi of scammers, others will not make the same mistakes she made.<\/p>\n
\"It's a huge syndicate, it's hard to take them down... but (when I wanted to take my life) I realised what I can do is help create awareness,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"That's the only reason that I'm still living. I don't want it to go to waste.\"<\/p>\n
This article was first published in The Straits Times.Permission required for reproduction.<\/p>\n
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Months of debts, promises and guilt trips: Woman declares bankruptcy after $240k 'pig-butchering' scam - AsiaOne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SINGAPORE - After six months of trying to pay back banks, moneylenders and creditors, Christine (not her real name) finally started bankruptcy proceedings over a huge debt. Continue reading