THE businessman was distressed. He thought his son had been kidnapped.
He had got a phone call and a voice that sounded like his son's pleaded: 'Papa, they are beating me, help!'
But his other son was home on medical leave. Despite being sick, the junior college student was alert enough to smell a rat.
The man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, 52, was ready to pay ransom. But thanks to his son's quick thinking, he didn't fall for the scammer, who called a week ago.
Recalled his son, Ben (not his real name): 'I was in the living room when my father rushed out of his room and appeared distressed.
'He was speaking in Mandarin to someone on the phone and sounded agitated. He covered the mouthpiece with his hand and whispered to me that my brother had been kidnapped.'
Ben, 17, was suspicious as he had read reports about phone scams, and suspected the person calling his father could be a conman. He decided to get in touch with his 15-year-old brother.
'I sent an SMS to my brother's handphone, asking if he was in school,' he said.
When there was no reply after 15 minutes, Ben also started feeling anxious.
'I was so anxious that it slipped my mind that my brother was having his examinations, and would not have been able to check his handphone,' he said.
He then checked the school's website and went into his room to call the general office.
He told a staff member that his father had received a call saying his brother had been kidnapped and wanted to check if he was in school. 'I waited less than five minutes for the person to check my brother's attendance record, but it seemed like a really long time because I was frightened that he might not be there,' hesaid.
When he found out his brother was in school, he told his father.
Mr Tan said he was sleeping when the call came in at 9.30am.
'The first thing I heard was a man say in Mandarin 'Lao Siong (brother), I kidnapped your son.'
'I was thrown off guard. Next I heard a boy's voice pleading in Mandarin, 'Papa, they are beating me, help!'
'The voice sounded like my son's. Then the man asked me, 'Do you want your son?'
'I said yes, and he told me that I had to pay $20,000.'
Mr Tan tried to negotiate.
'I told him that I did not have enough cash on hand, only $1,000. The man then asked for my bank account balance, but I told him I had no money.'
The caller became sarcastic. 'I asked to speak to my son to make sure he was unharmed, and he replied, 'You pay only $1,000 and you want to talk to your son? No!'
It was at this point that Ben told him his younger son was in school.
Mr Tan said: 'I was relieved, but I was still worried and wanted to see him myself.
'The kidnapper refused to let me hang up or he would kill my son.'
A few minutes later, his younger son called from school.
Said Mr Tan: 'When I knew I was being conned, I decided to play along to see if I could get more information about the scammers.'
He acted as though he was worried and willing to co-operate.
'I asked the caller how I could deliver the money to him, and he actually asked me where I lived,' said Mr Tan.
'I found it funny that someone who claimed to be a kidnapper did not know the victim's address.
'Even more comical was after I told him I lived at People's Park, he actually asked me how far People's Park is from Chinatown. I knew then the conman was not a local.'
Mr Tan said the caller gave him a New Bridge Road address where he could remit the ransom to someone named 'Zian You Wei' in China.
The New Paper went to the location and found the address to be a Western Union branch.
The conman then hung up abruptly, and Mr Tan went to pick up his younger son from school.
The ordeal lasted about 45 minutes. The conman called back several times and shouted that he was going to kill Mr Tan's son.
'Finally I asked him which kidnapper he was since there were so many who all claimed to have my son,' he said.
The caller was so enraged that he hurled vulgarities at Mr Tan before hanging up.
'It was fortunate that my elder son was around that day. If not, I would not know which son had been kidnapped, and there was no way I could call anyone since the kidnapper kept me on the phone,' said Mr Tan.
'I was frantic about my son's safety and was ready to remit the money as instructed.
'Looking back, I had been in such a daze I didn't realise that the boy pleading for help could not have been my son because he hardly speaks Mandarin,' he added.
Mr Tan lodged a police report that day.
'I want to warn the public to look out for such scams.
'People might be aware, but when they receive such phone calls, sometimes their anxiety over their children's safety can prevent them from thinking straight,' he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment