Thursday, August 23, 2007
Ingin cepat kaya? Haha.. Is there such a scheme? Well, its not a scheme. Its a scam.
I regret to announce this in my blog but I am a victim of scam, or should I say fraud! Not only me, my grandmum and my mum as well because their $$ are involve for this hence they are victims too.
There are 2 cases. But I will the first one today.
Case No. 1: I received an email which the subject reads, "PROMO". Well, that particular email was not in my junk email but in my inbox. And being very curious in wanting to know what was "PROMO" about, I opened it.
I was awed with the contents of the email! The contents of the email stated that "I WON ONE MILLION UK POUND STERLINGS"? I do not know what was happening to me that day! Maybe due to lots of thinking regarding domestic affairs at home that I can't even think that the email was fake. All I can remember was, "Woah.. If only its true, my mum can have early retirement, I can buy a private apartment (because I cannot buy HDB apartment if I am below 30 unless I'm married) and stay together with my grandmother, etc.."
What did I do? Before I replied, I told this to my mum. She too was blowed by this and she asked me to reply to the email straight away. My stepfather and step siblings kept quiet not wanting to comment. My grandmum on the other hand, sangsi, ragu-ragu, doubtful about this.
After I sent the reply asking, "Is this for real?" I got their reply. Well, it wasnt really a reply because the contents of the email did not state if it is for real. The contents only asking me to choose 2 options to get "my winnings". Choice no 1 by courier or choice no 2, banking.
I discussed this with my mum and she called Pak Ngah and wife (Mak Long was unreachable at that time) and relate them regarding this. The next day they came over to read the email and told me that they sound so "truthful". Might be true. So, did I reply? Yes I did. With all the personal details like home addresses etc. Well, my mum gave me the permission.
I received an email from the courier service (because I also stated that I opted for courier option instead of banking option) telling me the courier charges and they also mentioned, "Your prize winnings should not be deducted for the cost of courier. It should be borne by you." My mum read the email and she said, "Of coz lah, we ask to deliver it what so we pay first."
There were 3 charges to choose from. I chose the chepest and it was 380 UK Pound Sterlings (equivalent to SGD $1200). Although the email was sent to me, I will hold the responsibility in all the transactions. However, because I do not have that much cash, my mum told me that my grandmum and my mum will help me. I felt guilty. I do not wish to burden them especially when it comes to financial issues.
But my mum sumhow gave me the assurance and the confidence that this thing is for real so I agreed to withdraw $1200 from my grandmum's account for the payment of the courier. Received confirmation from the courier service and they stated that they will commence delivery the next day.
The next day, I was overcomed by another email from a so-called "INLAND REVENUE". That email informed me that my "winnings" was been intercepted and in order to commence the delivery, I have to pay a tax as I was not a resident of UK (of coz I'm not!). The tax is 1 % of 1 million uk pound sterlings which is 1 thousand uk pound sterlings (equivalent to SGD $3300!).
The amount is getting bigger! I was hesitant to make the payment. However, my mum after reading that email (I showed all the emails correspondence to her - I even printed it out JUST IN CASE) sumhow was confident that after the payment of the tax fee, we can get the "winnings". She urged me to make the payment but half of $3300 is from my mum and the other half is from my grandmum. Again, I really felt guilty. :( In order not to disappoint my mum, without delay, I went to make the payment.
Received an email from the courier telling me that "my winnings have been released" to the courier. However, further to that email, in order not to be interrupted by any checkings again, I need to produce UN document. They have already processed the UN document without even asking me? And guess what?!
I was electrified when I read further. The cost of UN document is 4 000 (thousand) UK Pounds sterling! (equivalent to SGD $12500!) Now that is already overboard! Where to get that much money?! My mum and I do not have that much cash! My grandmum.. Yes.. She has. BUT NO WAY WAS I GOING TO USE HER $$ ANYMORE! No, not because I have known I was conned but I found it risky! A big amount to gamble!
My mum had realized that all I was been conned. I know but I did not lose anything. MY GRANDMUM and MY MUM! THEIR $$! What did I do? I really wanna lodge a report on this. However both my grandmum and mum told me not to.. Nasi dah menjadi bubur.
So did I really make a report? Well, since they got my number, they called! I wasnt expecting their call! Wanna know what they ask? "Have u make the payment for the UN document?" I was displeased by that and I answered, "NO" and hunged up.
What was my next move? I wrote an email to the UK High Commision here in Singapore (The UK Embassy) asking for their assistance in this. They reverted to me and to my dismay, they were not been able to trace the organizations! Meaning, the organization did not exist!
In furtherance to the email replied from UK Embassy, they advise me to call (Consumers Affairs Department) CAD directly to seek their help as they believe CAD have dealings with such enquiries and also have clarified with police authorities in the UK.
What did I do? I did lodge the report. The I.O (investigating officer) had called me and asked me to come down to Police Cantoment Complex (which, I believe VERY NEAR to HEALTH PROMOTION BOARD!) to provide a statement. Well, I dun mind but the problem is, I have to come down to provide a statement for them during office hours! Oh dear! How? I'm left with 4 days of leave and I reserve it for my studies as this Oct, I will be taking one last and final module: Business Finance and that is not an easy subject. So I need the leave to study attentively for that module! So how?
Thinking of going during lunch time but I feared that wont be enough as I.O may have other tasks to clear before coming to me. Now I do not what to do. I have to go there twice and I have to see two different I.Os because they are handling the cases separately.
What was the other case? Well, sum sort similar to this. However, I did not get my mum and my grandmum involved in this. It is all by me however because I did not want to produce "I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER SUCH CERTIFICATES EXIST!" they want to "arrest" me! Yeah! They threatened to "arrest" me. So, I have to lodge a report to protect myself even if the "arrest" is not true.
Will continue with the case no 2 some other day. Now the time is 12.45 am in the morning. I need to get some sleep. Good nite..
