S1E7: Cryptocurrency scams: Not just those in their 20s to 30s fall prey - even the elderly are targeted

The Straits Times Podcasts

Synopsis: This is a special-edition podcast series by The Straits Times to raise greater public awareness of the modern scourge of scams in Singapore and globally.

In Singapore, nearly $1 billion has been lost by scam victims since 2016. Mutating and spreading, different types of scams have infiltrated every aspect of our lives, from romance to work. The police are cracking down on offenders. What can you do to protect yourself?

In the series’ seventh episode, ST’s crime correspondent David Sun, business correspondent Claire Huang, and journalist Jessie Lim speak with Fiona Choong, vice president of compliance at cryptocurrency exchange Coinhako.

Ms Choong covers the common kinds of scams involving cryptocurrency and what precautions cryptocurrency users can take against them.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:18 How a man in his 70s fell prey to a ‘tech support’ scam, and how his life savings of over S$400,000 was saved

5:50 Most active crypto customers are in the 20 to 30 age range; risk rules and safeguards covering various ages

11:00 Know-your-client (KYC) and financial literacy standards: How to uphold them, especially in Singapore?

18:20 Are there scams involving cryptocurrency giveaways, also known as ‘drops’, a marketing strategy that involves sending coins or tokens to wallet addresses?

26:40 Constantly evolving products such as non-fungible tokens and Web 3.0 a challenge for compliance officers when detecting scams

28:25 Love scam uncovered: When a man tried to withdraw a large amount of crypto to purportedly buy a piece of property for his ‘girlfriend’

32:07 Measures to take to avoid falling to cryptocurrency scams: how fear, greed and loneliness are exploited by scammers

Read ST's Stop Scams articles: https://str.sg/wWt9

• Anti-Scam Hotline: [phone] (9am - 5pm); https://www.scamalert.sg/
• National Care Hotline: [phone] (8am - 12am); https://ccs.org.sg/nch/

Produced by: Jessie Lim ([e-mail]), David Sun ([e-mail]), Claire Huang ([e-mail]), Ernest Luis and Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

Follow Stop Scams podcast series here:

Channel: https://str.sg/wuZB

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/wu3e

Spotify: https://str.sg/wuJj

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wE7S

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Websites: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [e-mail]

David Sun's articles: https://str.sg/wWty

Jessie Lim's articles: https://str.sg/wWtF

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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Special edition series:

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#stopscams

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bölümler

1. Cryptocurrency scams: Not just those in their 20s to 30s fall prey - even the elderly are targeted (00:00:00)

2. How a man in his 70s fell prey (00:02:18)

3. Risk rules & safeguards covering various ages (00:05:50)

4. Know-your-client standards (00:11:00)

5. Scams involving cryptocurrency giveaways (00:18:20)

6. Challenges of evolving products, NFTs (00:26:40)

7. How a love scam was uncovered (00:28:25)

8. How to avoid falling to cryptocurrency scams? (00:32:07)