\n<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also been targeted by scammers through text messaging apps, he said. \u201cSomeone called me and said, \u2018Mr Tan! Long time no see.\u2019 I said, \u2018I\u2019m Miss Lee.\u2019 They said, \u2018Sorry, Miss Lee, I made a mistake.\u2019 That\u2019s when I knew it wasn\u2019t legit.\u201d<\/p>\n
His colleague, actress Hong Hui Fang, was nearly scammed, too, he divulged. \u201cSomeone pretending to be her friend called her and asked for a transfer of money. They sounded exactly like her friend. She was going to make the transfer, but she forgot the amount, so she called her friend, who said they hadn\u2019t called her. It wasn\u2019t a lot of money, but it\u2019s something that shouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
On one occasion, he tried to order fish from his usual supplier, but was treated with suspicion. \u201cTurns out, these days, many people are placing orders and not collecting them or paying for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father was also targeted by scammers, he shared. Chen stopped his dad as he was on his way out of the house to meet someone at a gas station to give them money after receiving a phone call. He believes his father was hypnotised over the phone, he said.<\/p>\n
Even in real life, scammers abound.<\/p>\n
\u201cI encountered a face-to-face hypnosis scam once, in the carpark at Paragon shopping mall,\u201d he told us. \u201cIt was a couple with a baby, driving a fancy Mercedes. They said, \u2018You\u2019re Chen Hanwei! How lucky we are to run into you!\u2019 I stopped to say hi, never imagining that they could be harbouring bad intentions.”<\/p>\n
In their car, \u201cthey had many bottles of red wine. They said their restaurant had just closed down so they were giving the wine away, and offered to give me some. I said, \u2018No, thanks. I don\u2019t drink.’ They said, \u2018Take some! Yesterday, we ran into Chen Liping and gave her two bottles. She gave us S$100 in return.\u2019 Then, for some reason, as we were talking, I took S$100 out of my wallet and gave it to them. It was really strange.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the conversation, Chen went upstairs to the mall and found a wine shop, where he thought to have the bottles of wine he\u2019d been sold appraised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I walked in and the boss saw me holding those bottles, he laughed and said, \u2018Oh, another one.\u2019 He told me that those people use hypnosis to scam people of money, and that each bottle actually cost only S$5.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, how does the \u201chypnosis\u201d work? Apparently, \u201csome scammers use their voice; others can use scents,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re alone or abroad, and someone approaches you, you must be very careful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take it from Chen, who \u201clearned a lesson the hard way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n