Search for sexual prowess leaves elderly man $17k poorer
A 67-year-old man seeking greater sexual stamina contacted an overseas consultant who got him to buy various products.
A few months later, his staying power was hardly any better, he was $17,000 poorer, and the consultant was no longer contactable.
The man, whose name was given only as Lin, told Shin Min Daily News that he was looking for a solution to premature ejaculation issues.
The consultant recommended some medication which would supposedly help him to last 20 minutes during sex. That was in August 2021.
Mr Lin paid $420 and received a few bottles of pills.
He felt the pills had some effect, but it did not last.
The consultant then suggested that he try another product.
Mr Lin received more bottles and a few patches but these did not seem to work.
He began to have doubts, but the consultant fed him stories of how such treatment had helped others. And he was persuaded to go in for three more courses of treatment.
After five months of this, Mr Lin felt there was only a slight improvement, nothing like the 20 minutes promised.
When he sought an explanation from the consultant, he was asked to get his kidneys checked.
He did so, but no kidney disease was found.
The consultant then said something about checking with a professor, but became uncontactable.
"I felt I had been scammed," Mr Lin told Shin Min.
He said that as the treatment progressed, the packaging of the medication became fancier and eventually it came in a gift box.
"I was constantly half-believing, half-doubtful," he said.
He finally gave up hope when he received some medicine in a bottle that said “To treat the skin”.
Mr Lin admitted that he had been "too stupid" throughout.
"My salary isn't much, and the money was originally for my old age,” he said. “I'm really regretful, and hope to be wiser about how I approach problems in the future."
Singapore's Health Sciences Authority has warned against buying sexual enhancement products from dubious sources, and encouraged those with such issues to speak to doctors instead.
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