SingPost staff saved customers from falling prey to online scams
They prevented 10 people of being scammed of at least $5,500
Ms Nora Yasmin Zain may be an expert in spotting online scams.
The 34-year-old SingPost branch manager prevented two groups of people from getting conned when she was stationed at the Marine Parade post office.
One such case happened last year, when Ms Yasmin advised a retired woman in her 50s to make a police report instead of remitting US$800 (S$1,100) to a person from Nigeria whom she had met online.
In a separate incident in 2017, Ms Yasmin prevented a young girl and her mother from falling victim to a pet scam.
The pair believed they were buying a special breed of dog online from the US and wanted to transfer $2,000 to the online seller by remitting cash via SingPost.
Ms Yasmin grew sceptical after talking to the mother and her teenage daughter.
She told The New Paper: "They were not aware of clearance steps from the seller. I told the mum that she should find out more before making the purchase.In the end, the transaction wasn't made."
Yesterday, Ms Yasmin and other SingPost workers, Ms Lee Mei Chan and Mr Tahir Saleh, were commended for preventing 10 victims from falling prey to scams on 10 different occasions last year.
Their interventions prevented victims from losing at least $5,500 and for that, the trio were presented a Community Partnership award at a ceremony at Jurong Police Division.
Ms Yasmin, who has been working at SingPost for almost 14 years and who is now at the Pasir Ris branch, said: "Tell-tale signs of love scam victims are they refusing to divulge information of the receiver and getting angry easily after being asked more questions."
SingPost was one of the 22 organisations lauded yesterday.
Giant Singapore was also commended for adopting the ShopWatch initiative. Staff approach suspicious-looking shoppers, to let them know that the workers are "eyeing" them.
PUBLIC SPIRITEDNESS AWARD
Six members of the public were also commended with Public Spiritedness awards at the ceremony.
Four Citizens on Patrol members from Bukit Batok Neighbourhood Police Centre - Mr Abdul Hamid Abdul Haziz, Madam Fatimah Hayon, Mr Leow Boon Swee and Ms Winnie Tan - were commended for their actions on March 16, which led to the arrest of a man for stealing shoes.
They were on foot patrol around Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 when they saw a man throwing shoes down from the fourth storey of a block and picking them up at the ground level.
Mr Abdul Hamid, 55, confronted the man, who fled on a bicycle with the shoes.
They called the police, which led to an arrest. At the ceremony, Mr Hamid thanked the police, saying: "I hope I can do much better for the residents."
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