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A 59-year-old man thought he could game the system by engaging a service providing “insider information” on 4D winning numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he ended up losing more than $2,000 and even had his photo altered by the scammer and posted online as evidence of the service’s credibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Victim Zhu Jinzong (transliteration) told Shin Min Daily News that he contacted the trickster after chancing upon his Facebook post in end-November. The person claimed they knew someone working at the Tote Board, who could obtain the 4D numbers for the top three prizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I told him my finances were tight. He readily said he could help me pay [the insider fee] first, and I just needed to pay a membership fee of $328,” said the private-hire driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Zhu transferred the sum, they continued chatting. On Dec 6, the man was given the “winning number” of 4877 for the first prize in that day’s 4D draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Based on the information, he placed a bet of $100 and also complied with instructions to send a selfie of himself holding the betting slip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That same afternoon, Zhu was told that the digits for the top prize had changed, and the service had helped him submit a new bet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the results were announced that evening, he received a photo of the slip bearing the winning permutation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They told me I had won $300,000 and they would help me claim the prize money and deposit the check into my bank account… I really thought I had won the lottery and was over the moon,” he recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, Zhu was asked for a $1,800 “tip” for the person who provided the insider information.<\/p>\n
He agreed and transferred the “tip”, only for the scammer to ask for more money, including an “adjustment fee” of over $4,000 to deposit the prize proceeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zhu then got suspicious and lodged a police report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Later, I looked at the photo of the betting slip sent to me and it looked a bit strange,” he told Shin Min.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He subsequently discovered that his selfie had been doctored and used to illustrate a success story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They changed the original number of 4877 to the winning number 1419 and wrote that I had won the $300,000. They used me as a success story to lure the public into the scheme,” he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zhu wanted to share his story to warn others of the scam: “It was my hard-earned money and I hope there won’t be any more victims.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
[[nid:673972]]<\/p>\n
lim.kewei@asiaone.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n