SINGAPORE: A 60-year-old man wanted to get a woman to come to Singapore to meet him, but he fell into a ‘honey trap’ when he willingly paid for various fees, such as security deposit, medical expenses, and even an apology fee for making the woman angry. Overall, he lost more than $10,000.
The man told Shin Min Daily News that he met a Chinese woman and was drawn by her sweet words. She then planned to meet with him as soon as possible when they started talking on Facebook and WhatsApp. Initially, they only talked about life and work, but as they went along, the woman expressed that she wanted to visit Singapore.
However, the woman admitted to the man that she had allegedly committed a crime in Singapore, so her entry was restricted, and she needed to apply for the relevant permits first. The man also received a call from an alleged Chinese government official, stating that a deposit and a handling fee must be paid first before the woman can leave the country.
Eager to meet the woman, the man transferred the money to the given account, but still failed to meet her. “She told me that she couldn’t come to Singapore because she was carrying too much jewellery and customs refused to allow her to leave the country,” the man expressed.
A few days later, the man once again transferred thousands of dollars to the woman, who still expressed her desire to meet the man. This time around, the woman’s flight to Singapore had arrived, but she claimed that her money had been confiscated by customs due to excessive cash. To ransom her, the man paid another $1,000 to the woman.
Unfortunately, the man still failed to see the woman. She declared that she had been in a car accident on her way from the airport and was hospitalised. When the man wanted to visit her, she refused to tell him the specific location of the hospital. Despite this, the woman demanded $600 from the man for her medical bills and another $600 for an apology fee before agreeing to finally meet with him.
When their meet-up was finalised, the woman did not show up due to traffic, and the next day, she had to go home to Malaysia. At this point, the man gave up and lost more than $10,000. The authorities confirmed that they received this report, and the case is under investigation.
What is a ‘honey trap’ and how to avoid this?
A honeytrap is a type of scam wherein a woman pretends to like someone to make them share private or secret information.
To avoid falling for honeytrap scams, here are some safety tips:
- Be careful with emails that have strange subjects, like winning a lot of money or secret invitations.
- Never click on links in suspicious emails
- Avoid dating websites you don’t know, especially ones that appear in spam emails.
