Simply searching for a phone number on PayNow, using banking apps, throws up the display name that the account holder uses. For many users, this is their real name.
"Fake friend" scams typically involve perpetrators contacting victims through text messages or phone calls, pretending to be someone they know, and then asking for financial help. SINGAPORE: The accountant in her mid-20s received a call from an alleged acquaintance she met at a social gathering, asking for a loan of close to S$80,000 to set up a new cafe.
The National University of Singapore's Associate Professor Natalie Pang added: “My advice is to be cautious about the information we put out as much as possible. For instance, on PayNow, it is possible to change the display name.” “If the bank’s system detects an account making an extremely high number of queries in a day, for instance, hundreds, the account’s search function should be immediately frozen for further investigation.”Beware of scams involving fixed deposit 'promotions'; at least S$650,000 lost since January
“It usually ranges between S$50,000 and S$80,000. The lowest one was S$30,000,” said Mr Supramaniam, whose clients would come to him for legal advice on steps to take in the aftermath of such scams. “They are very distressed ... it’s very heartbreaking as it’s their hard-earned money. Some of them were even actually going into depression. The impact can really be felt.”
“They are not interested in having these people be prosecuted and go to jail. The legal consequences, they are secondary. They just want to regain the money as it’s their savings.”Given how digitalised society is now, personal information could be easily found even if users mask their PayNow names, NUS' Assoc Prof Pang noted. For example, people often use their real names on social media and messaging platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp.
Users should visually verify the person’s identity, as voice cloning technology is now advanced enough for someone’s voice to be replicated with just a few minutes of audio recording.
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