Please Take Extra Precaution Before Getting Involved in
Financial Transactions with Acquaintances.

This is a case of 26-year-old Jerald Low Jing Yong, who scammed a victim named TY over the month of January 2019.

TY got to know Jerald from an online forum in December 2018. On the forum, Jerald mentioned about doing business with others. This interested TY, who does his own business. They began communicating over Telegram, where Jerald shared about his bubble tea business, and his plans to open a new bubble tea shop at Marina Bay Sands.

1. Telco Line Scam

The pair met on 3 Jan 2019 for the first time at Tampines Mall. Over dinner, Jerald shared that he wanted new telco lines for his business. He asked TY if he could use his personal details, while paying for the initial sign-up costs himself. TY thought that it was a small matter and obliged.

That day, using TY’s personal details, Jerald purchased 5 lines from different telcos and obtained 5 smartphones, which he likely sold for a profit. Jerald told TY that he would transfer the ownership of the lines to his own business, but he never did. For months, TY received the telco bills and even legal letters demanding for the payment of the lines.

2. Loan Request

From 5 to 9 Jan, Jerald shared with TY about his grandmother’s hospitalization. Jerald said that he had lost his bank cards and could not pay the hospital bills. He asked TY for help, and TY transferred him up to $20,581 as a loan.

3. Car Purchases and Rentals

On 13 Jan, Jerald told TY that he wanted to replace his existing cars. TY has an interest in cars and accompanied Jerald to the showrooms. They visited the Audi and Volvo showrooms, where Jerald gave cheques to purchase up to 5 cars. However, without explaining much, he asked TY for his personal details again, which he used to sign the sales agreements.

The next few days, on 14 and 15 Jan, the pair visited the Kia, Volkswagen and Alfa Romeo showrooms, where Jerald purchased 6 cars using the same method: handing a cheque but sealing the deals with TY’s information. TY obliged as he had seen Jerald’s wealth and thought that Jerald just needed some help – perhaps, there could be potential business opportunities together too.

On 16 Jan, they met at a coffeeshop at Toa Payoh, where Jerald told TY that he wanted to rent a car. He reminded TY about his lost bank cards and asked TY to help pay first. TY used his credit card, which is shared with his mother. About 10 days later, TY’s mother received an SMS that a rental car company had charged their credit card a total of $6,420. TY called Jerald about the charge, and Jerald said he was unaware of it. TY’s mother immediately called the bank to file a dispute and suspend the charge.

Eventually, Jerald’s cheques for all the car purchases bounced too. TY called the car dealers, who by now were getting wary of the pair. The car dealers said the purchases would be voided; but for the Audi purchase, TY would have to bear a penalty fee.