Scam!

Let me state for the record that those who have met my Mom-In-Grace (MIG) will not fail to exclaim how young she looks for a MIG. Yes, my MIG is well-groomed, educated, worked all her life as a teacher and a very sharp woman.

So we were all surprised when she told us what happened to her on Friday.

A scam which all of us heard of before. She received a call at home on Friday. The caller, a lady, claimed to be someone from the High Court. She told my MIG that the police had raided the home of a loanshark and among the records kept the loan shark, was my MIG's name and telephone number. She claimed that my MIG had let the loanshark use her bank account for illegal transaction and therefore she has committed a crime. A CID officer will be coming to arrest my MIG that evening. My MIG, who is a law abiding citizen, was freaked out. Then the lady asked my MIG to help with the investigation. She asked my MIG to use her mobile phone to call her in order for them to be in contact at all times. She told my MIL that she has now programmed her mobile phone, so that by dialling 123, my MIG will be able to reach her. She told my MIG that she was not to speak to anyone about this because this case is still under investigation. I am not sure what else was said, but they spent more than an hour on the phone with my MIG trying to verify what she said and whether she was who she said she was. My guess is that during this time, she had probably 'hypnotised' her, otherwise, I have no explanation of what happened next.

Following her instruction, my MIG left the house, went to the bank to draw out almost all her money. She told my MIG to take note of which teller (whether a man or a lady) was attending to her because the CID officer will be checking with the bank officer later. She was told to keep most of the withdrawal at home but only bring S$10k with her to Lucky Plaza. She even told my MIG to ask receipt from the taxi driver because it can be 'claimed' back for helping with the investigation. After getting to Luck Plaza, she told my MIG to transmit S$10k at "Gem" - I think this is a money changer - to a man and a bank account in KL. The girl at Gem said she can only accept S$2k, so my MIG asked for instruction (by dialing 123 on her phone). She expressed surprise because she's never had trouble transmitting S$10k before and instructed my MIG to go to the next one at Western Union to transmit the balance of S$8k. The lady at Western Union asked my MIG why she was transmitting so much money and my MIG even made up stories, as instructed by the lady on the phone, just so the money will be accepted.

She then went home in a daze.

At this time, around 4pm, my Father-in-Grace (FIG) had just come home from work. When my MIG was talking on the phone with the lady, he got suspicious and asked her about it. She shouted at my FIG that she was under investigation and she cannot reveal anything and cannot discuss with him. My FIG said that it is a scam and she has been cheated. She refused to listen and even when out of the house to speak to the lady. My MIG told my FIG not to interfere and that CID will be home to arrest her very soon. After some shouting, she finally came to her senses that it could possibly be a scam. Immediately, she called up Gem and Western Union to stop the remittance. Western Union agreed instantly, whereas Gem was reluctant at first. After getting her money back, they went to report the case to the police at Cantonment Police Station. The police confirmed that this is a scam before my MIG fully believe that it is a scam. During this time, the lady called my MIG's mobile phone non stop continuously, even at the police station. She was not even afraid to speak to the police - maybe she did not believe that my MIG had really gone to the police station.

We were so glad that she got her money back at the last minute and we all believe that it must have been God's protection for us.

The bible is right, we cannot live a life of prevention, we can only rely on God and live a life of protection.

Amen.