When cops 'cheat' people for a good cause

The deal at the vending machine - just $1 for a power bank, or a charging cable - was too good to be true.

She was suspicious, but because her daughter kept pestering her, she put a dollar in anyway.

A box was dispensed and she thought she had got a good deal.

But it contained only a note and she realised she had just been scammed.

Fortunately, the people who "cheated" her were none other than the police.

And she had inadvertently played her part in their experiment to teach the public a lesson so they can avoid being cheated by real scammers.

In its mid-year report, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the number of Internet-related crime has gone up.

In the first half of last year, 150 people were cheated in Internet love scams. In the same period this year, there were 298 such cases. 

The police are concerned and the Marine Parade Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) thought of "cheating" people with unbelievable deals from vending machines.

On Aug 27, they installed a vending machine outside the Sports Hub Library. On Aug 31, they installed another at Bedok Bus Interchange.

Each machine offered power banks and charging cables at the low price of $1 each.

But the boxes dispensed only contained advisories on scams.

EXPLAIN: No power bank or cable in the box, just a note.

Officers from Marine Parade NPC's Community Policing Unit (CPU) are stationed at both locations daily.

When "victims" realised they were scammed, an officer would approach them, and ask if there was anything inside the box.

REVEAL

The officers would reveal themselves and tell the person that he or she had have been cheated.

Victims can get their money back by pressing a button on the machine.

The vending machines attract between 20 and 30 victims a day.

EXPLAIN: Officers reveal themselves after people are "scammed".

When The New Paper visited the interchange on Monday, about 10 people stopped to inspect the vending machine in an hour.

Four others actually fell prey to the machine.

Housewife Sunita Abdullah, 44, was at Bedok on Monday with her daughter, who is in primary school, when they passed by the vending machine.

The girl insisted on trying it out, but to their dismay, the box only had a note.

Madam Sunita took a moment to realise she had been scammed.

Inspector Jason Chua, deputy officer-in-charge of Marine Parade NPC's CPU, told TNP that the idea for the vending machine was inspired by stories from victims of online scams.

Insp Chua said: "We want to give the public a first-hand experience they can learn from, so they will be more careful next time."

The vending machines will remain for a month.

Another victim on Monday was student, Cheryl Koh, 13.

Cheryl told TNP that she needed a new charging cable and had been told by a friend that there was a vending machine at Bedok Interchange that sold cheap cables.

Said Cheryl: "I did wonder why it was so cheap, but I thought I would just try it. It was only a dollar, after all."

Another victim, Mr Muhd Noor Iman, 18, told TNP he had needed a cable and had thought the deal was real.

The Institute of Technical Education student noted: "It's a good lesson to learn, to not be fooled so easily."

Senior Staff Sergeant Steven Goh from Marine Parade NPC, said that about 60 per cent of the victims were young people. The rest were mostly adults in their 30s.

He added: "We are trying to educate the public and emphasise the message that deals that are too good to be true are often fake."

 

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I did wonder why it was so cheap, but I thought I would just try it. It was only a dollar, after all.

- Student Cheryl Koh, 13, who got 'scammed'

We are trying to educate the public and emphasise the message that deals that are too good to be true are often fake.

- Senior Staff Sergeant Steven Goh from Marine Parade NPC

I did wonder why it was so cheap, but I thought I would just try it. It was only a dollar, after all.

— Student Cheryl Koh, 13, who got ‘scammed’