Lured by fast cash deals, they were used by scam syndicates. Two young people share how they were recruited by scammers to sell their bank accounts and Singpass credentials.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I was 17 when I became a money mule.
00:03 It didn't sound legal, but this is money to me.
00:07 A money mule is basically somebody that actually
00:16 helps those scammers to carry their money that is not legal.
00:22 Basically, you give out your debit card, bank account
00:25 to those people and then they use it for illegal purposes.
00:29 [Music]
00:45 I went online to Telegram.
00:47 I found this group that said you could give in your bank card
00:51 for like, I think $800, could be $1000 over.
00:54 There were even some that said that you can give the bank card
00:57 and they'll pay you like every two weeks or so.
00:59 And I actually found a chat with a guy, Jay.
01:03 I asked him about it.
01:05 How does this work?
01:06 He said that, "Oh, I'll pass you $500.
01:08 You help me open the account."
01:10 And then after that, I gave him the card, bank account,
01:12 login details and everything.
01:14 And then he will transfer me money in a few days once it's done.
01:17 He actually said that it was used for investment or stocks.
01:22 And then when I received the money, he told me that
01:24 I should help him even more so I can get more money.
01:27 I opened two bank accounts myself and I asked my friends
01:31 and a few other random strangers to open.
01:33 I think maybe about six to seven.
01:36 [Music]
01:39 One day, my junior asked if we wanted to make some fast cash.
01:42 What I did was send our bank cards to him.
01:44 As I got closer to doing the deal with him,
01:47 I asked him if this was actually illegal or not.
01:51 Like, what would it raise?
01:52 Would I get caught or anything like that?
01:54 And he said that it's a very low chance to get caught.
01:57 He said it wasn't a big case or anything.
01:59 It's not a big problem.
02:00 You just have to act like you're innocent.
02:03 I was tempted because it was easy
02:06 compared to if you were to work outside.
02:09 It was a very simple process.
02:10 All I had to do was meet the guy at the shopping mall
02:13 and then he would prep me on what to say to the bank staff.
02:16 He also gave me a new SIM card with a new phone number
02:19 so that I can register the phone number with the card that I'm opening for.
02:24 It's a savings account.
02:25 And it only took about 10 to 15 minutes.
02:29 Then after that, I had to transfer all the details of the online digital banking to him.
02:34 My mum, she only gives me like $10 a day.
02:52 I didn't have this much money in my entire life before.
02:55 So, I actually kept doing it because it felt very powerful, you know.
03:00 And I was happy.
03:01 I didn't have to think twice before spending the money
03:03 because I knew it wasn't my hard-earned money.
03:06 I was just going everywhere, buying drinks
03:09 living life for a few days and then the money was just finished already.
03:12 It didn't last very long because eventually
03:15 the law came for me before I could even enjoy the rest of it.
03:21 [Music]
03:31 I was actually very shocked because I didn't think it was like that, you know.
03:36 I thought it was actually like some stocks investment.
03:40 I think after sitting in lock-up for about 48 hours
03:43 it really affected me and made me think that it was wrong.
03:48 Money that comes quickly is actually too good to be true.
03:53 After one month, I started to get bank statements in my mailbox.
03:57 There were like 60-plus pages.
03:59 The amounts would go from $10K all the way up to $100K.
04:04 So, it wasn't a usual amount for me in my bank.
04:09 Anyone would see it as suspicious.
04:12 I was very scared.
04:14 I thought they were scamming other people and their money was coming to my account.
04:17 And I was scared that it would all lead back to me if I got caught.
04:20 [Music]
04:31 [Music]
04:37 I wouldn't say that I'm fully a victim because
04:40 I still had my own decision to make and I still wanted to go ahead with it.
04:46 I actually wouldn't say I'm a total victim.
04:48 I might be also like half of a bad guy because I asked other people to do it as well.
04:53 I would never do it again.
04:54 My biggest regret was sitting in that lock-up.
04:56 It was a waste of my two days where I could be doing so many other things.
05:00 My advice to others is, don't be tempted with fast cash.
05:03 It's not cool to earn fast cash knowing that it's not your hard-earned money.
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