S’pore woman lost $240,000 in ‘pig butcher’ scam after fraudster courted her for months

SINGAPORE — After six months of trying to repay banks, lenders and creditors, Christine (pseudonym) has finally filed for bankruptcy over a huge debt. The 37-year-old Malaysian nurse working in Singapore is the victim of a butcher shop scam.

This hybrid of romance and investment scams sees fraudsters pretending to be a love interest to scam unsuspecting partners.

With a total debt of $270,000 and no recourse, Christine attended a court hearing on Thursday (February 17) to declare bankruptcy.

“If possible, I wouldn’t want to declare bankruptcy, but it’s a better option for me now,” Christine, from Penang, Malaysia, said in tears over the phone.

Having been separated from her family in Malaysia due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, loneliness drove her to seek the company of a mysterious stranger who sent her a direct message on Instagram.

The stranger claimed to be a 34-year-old Shanghainese interior designer based in Vancouver, Canada.

A friendship quickly formed and they were soon talking to each other daily via text messages and voice calls.

He seemed pretty legit, sharing photos and videos of his daily life – whether it was pictures of his meals or of him skiing while on vacation.

“He kept telling me ‘why can’t you find a partner, you don’t want to be stuck alone in a retirement home with no family'”, says Christine.

“I only wanted to stay friends with him since he was a free thinker…but when he caved and said he would follow me to church, that’s when I caved too.”

Three weeks into the conversation, he brought up investments.

She started small and ended up investing US$5,000 (S$6,700) in the first month.

In the midst of it all, she had lost $30,000 in a separate loan scam.

Her new love, who comforted her through the loss, suggested she could recoup the $30,000 “pretty easily,” if she invested in her platform.

He even paid $10,000 into her account to convince her.

He trained her further, promising to fly out of Vancouver in October, to arrive in time for the heart surgery she was to attend.