SINGAPORE: A 64-year-old retiree in Singapore has found himself at the centre of an investigation after discovering that nearly half of his SG60 vouchers were used without his knowledge.
Lee, who spoke to Shin Min Daily News, said he collected his S$800 worth of SG60 vouchers on 2 July, a day after they became available to seniors aged 60 and above.
The vouchers, printed by staff at Kreta Ayer Community Club, were in physical form, in denominations of S$10, S$5 and S$2.
Lee used a S$10 voucher at a supermarket on 4 July without issue.
However, the following day, his wife attempted to use three S$10 vouchers and a S$2 voucher at Bee Cheng Hiang, but staff informed her that one S$10 voucher had already been redeemed.
Suspecting an error, Lee tried to use two S$10 vouchers at Sheng Siong Supermarket on 6 July, only to be told that one was no longer valid.
He returned to Kreta Ayer Community Club to clarify the matter.
According to Lee, staff at the community club asked if a family member had used the vouchers.
To confirm, Lee called his two sons on the spot; both denied using them.
The staff then advised him to lodge a police report.
Lee filed the report on 7 July.
With the help of police officers, he logged into his Singpass account and discovered that S$459 worth of vouchers had been redeemed on 3 July by an unknown party.
Only S$42 had been used by Lee and his wife.
The remaining balance had been spent without their knowledge, despite the physical vouchers being in their possession.
The police have previously warned the public to be cautious of phishing scams linked to SG60 vouchers.
In an advisory on 4 July, police reminded Singaporeans that they would never be asked via calls, emails, or social media to share personal credentials or bank details to claim SG60 vouchers.
They also stressed that no payments or unofficial mobile applications are required to claim the vouchers.
To avoid scams, the public is advised to use the native QR scanning function on their devices instead of third-party apps.
For those who need help claiming digital vouchers, Community Clubs and SG Digital Community Hubs offer assistance.
More than 450,000 seniors have already claimed their SG60 vouchers since 1 July.
This accounts for over 40 per cent of Singapore’s 1.1 million seniors, according to Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.
The SG60 vouchers, a one-off initiative to mark Singapore’s 60th year of independence, offer S$800 for citizens aged 60 and above.
Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 will be able to claim S$600 worth of vouchers from 22 July.
The post Singapore retiree loses half of SG60 vouchers to suspected misuse, police investigating appeared first on The Online Citizen.
