'I'm penniless': Elderly man loses $21,000 after falling for 'sure-win' lottery scam

He was promised a win at the lottery, but the only one who 'won' was the scammer.

An elderly man has lost over $20,000 in life savings after falling for a scam on Facebook, Shin Min Daily News reported on Sunday (Oct 18).

The 71-year-old, surnamed Yang, told the Chinese daily that he had come across a Facebook advertisement in August that promised punters guaranteed lottery wins.

While his call to the number provided in the advertisement didn't get through, he was later contacted by the other party a few days later.

Yang was told that they had insiders in Singapore Pools who could share predictions on winning numbers for 4D draws.

They then asked Yang to make payment — $1,988 for first prize, $1,688 for second prize, or $1,388 for third prize.

Unable to fork out the sum required, Yang was told to use $500 to set up an account with them, followed by another $500 to buy five sets of numbers.

On Sept 5, Yang was given five sets of 4D numbers and promised a sum of $300,000 if he won first prize.

That evening, he didn't win. None of his numbers matched the 4D results, prompting him to question the other party.

Yang was then told that there was an insider who could help him change the 4D numbers and win.

"The next day, the person sent me a message saying that I had won the jackpot, and sent me a photo of a cheque for $300,000," he told Shin Min.

To obtain the $300,000, however, Yang would need to keep his promise and transfer the remaining $1,488 to make up for the first prize fee. Yang obliged.

On Sept 9, he faced a new issue, as the other party claimed that they required $5,850 as a handling fee because the large sum in the transfer might be flagged for money laundering.

Two days later, Yang was told to transfer a further $7,840.

Unable to receive his lottery winnings after wiring the money, Yang reported the incident to the police on Sept 16.

Holding out hope for the windfall, Yang sent the other party another $3,500, Shin Min reported.

"I've transferred over $20,000 in total and I'm now penniless," he admitted.

"My contract as a janitor expired last month and I am currently unemployed. I can only eat instant noodles and bread every day," Yang said.

He has lost a total of $21,688.

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

khooyihang@asiaone.com

他被承诺会中彩票，但唯一“中奖”的却是骗子。

据《新明日报》周日（10月18日）报道，一名老人在Facebook上遭遇诈骗，损失了超过2万美元的毕生积蓄。

这位 71 岁、姓杨的老人告诉这家中国日报，他在 8 月份偶然看到一则 Facebook 广告，该广告承诺保证投注者中彩票大奖。

虽然他拨打广告中提供的电话号码没有接通，但几天后对方联系了他。

杨被告知，他们在新加坡博彩公司有内部人士，可以分享 4D 彩票的中奖号码预测。

然后他们要求杨支付奖金——一等奖 1988 美元，二等奖 1688 美元，三等奖 1388 美元。

由于无法支付所需的金额，杨被告知先用 500 美元在他们那里开户，然后再用 500 美元购买五组号码。

9月5日，杨某获得了五组4D彩票号码，并被承诺如果他中头奖，将获得30万美元的奖金。

当晚，他没中奖。他选的号码一个也没中4D彩票的开奖结果，这让他对对方产生了怀疑。

杨随后被告知，有一位内部人士可以帮助他更改 4D 彩票号码并赢得奖金。

“第二天，那个人给我发了一条消息，说我中了头奖，还给我发了一张30万美元支票的照片，”他告诉《新明日报》。

然而，为了获得30万美元，杨需要信守承诺，将剩余的1488美元转给他，以弥补一等奖的奖金。杨照做了。

9 月 9 日，他又遇到了一个新问题，对方声称需要 5850 美元的手续费，因为转账金额较大，可能会被怀疑是洗钱行为。

两天后，杨被告知再转账 7840 美元。

杨先生汇款后未能收到彩票奖金，于9月16日向警方报案。

据《新明日报》报道，杨先生仍然抱有意外之财的希望，又向对方汇款 3500 美元。

“我总共转账超过 2 万美元，现在身无分文了，”他承认道。

“我的清洁工合同上个月到期了，我现在失业了。我每天只能吃方便面和面包，”杨说。

他总共损失了 21688 美元。

针对AsiaOne的询问，警方证实已接到报案，调查正在进行中。

khooyihang@asiaone.com