Raising awareness of job-scam victims’ plight 

GETTING a message from a prospective employer often brings about a rush of emotions. After all, that one text could be the start of an opportunity. But for one undergraduate, responding to an “employer” set in motion a string of events that ultimately cost her a five-figure sum.

It was April 2022 when Lynette (not her real name) received a message from an unfamiliar person on Telegram, asking if she was interested in a work-from-home position. The role entailed her using an online platform to perform purchase transactions with her own money for a commission.

Within hours of setting up an account, Lynette had sunk all her savings into it. Borrowing from family and friends, she scrambled to complete more payments, hoping to get a commission – and her money back – soon. But that never happened. By the time she made a police report, she had lost about S$12,000.

Lynette said her friends were less than supportive about the incident.

 “Most of them were like, ‘oh, it’s your fault that you got scammed’… it was a bit awkward to ask them for help.”

The 25-year-old is just one of many victims of job scams. Data from the Singapore Police Force shows that the number of such cases rose to 6,492 in 2022, up 42.7 per cent from 2021. 

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The reaction of Lynette’s friends is surprisingly normal, said John Shepherd Lim, chief well-being officer at the Singapore Counselling Centre. However, he added that such behaviour can make victims “feel as though their feelings are dismissed, instead of being addressed”.

“It can also prompt the urge for them to find a quick fix for their situation,” he said.

To combat the stigma surrounding job-scam victims, a group of students from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) launched a campaign called Stop the Shame, End the Scam to share victims’ stories, and for members of the public to leave them words of encouragement. The aim is to cultivate empathy among the public for the victims.

The NTU team said the inspiration for this ground-up initiative was that while there were many messages from the authorities that educate the public on the preventive measures of falling for a scam, none address the important question – what if you have already fallen prey to such an elaborate scheme?

With the rising number of scam cases, and the stigma associated with the victims, the group decided it was time to act.

Since its launch last November, the campaign has reached more than a thousand people at two physical outreach events. Its videos on TikTok, which centre on the signs and after-effects of job scams, have garnered some 250,000 views.

Wanting the movement to gain traction, the group approached the National Crime Prevention Council and the police to continue this project. 

It added: “We are exploring our options, such as finding a governmental body to take over our initiative, so we can leverage their resources and generate more awareness on this topic.”

When asked what more one can do to help job-scam victims, Samuel Chng, head of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities’ Urban Psychology Lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, said that a change in the language used is a start.

“Instead of reacting with ‘that would never happen to me’, we could say to the victim: ‘I’m so sorry that happened to you. Scammers are good at what they do’.”

Concurring, Lim from the Singapore Counselling Centre said: “It helps to refrain from unsolicited advice-giving or dwell on how the scam occurred, since it can worsen the victim’s feelings of guilt and shame, and shifts the conversation away from the emotions of the victim…

“Most importantly, we have to be present and encouraging towards job-scam victims, such that they can gradually learn to forgive themselves for their mistake.”

To find out about identifying job scams, and resources to support scam victims, visit www.stoptheshameendthescam.com