Beware doctored photo, WeChat group promoting bogus China investments: Low Yen Ling, Temasek

SINGAPORE – Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling and Temasek have warned the public about an investment scam tied to a doctored photo of her, a sham app and a WeChat group, all purportedly promoting wealth management products in China.

In the doctored photo, Ms Low is seen at a ceremony for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between two fictitious organisations – a Chinese commerce chamber and an asset management company named Taibai.

The photo was misused on a China app, also called Taibai, and a group on messaging app WeChat, to sell wealth management products, said Ms Low in a Facebook post on May 12.

The app impersonated a Temasek subsidiary while information about the bogus investments were also circulated on a WeChat group Jing Shang Hui, said Singapore’s investment company Temasek on May 12. The chat group’s name in Chinese is loosely translated as “Beijing chamber of commerce”.

Temasek clarified on May 12 that Taibai Investments is one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, but denied any ties with the Taibai app or the Jing Shang Hui chat group.

Temasek and Taibai Investments do not sell or market investment products in China, nor has it authorised any third parties to do so, the investment company said.

The original photo of Ms Low was taken at the Singapore-China Economic Partnership Conference on Feb 1, 2024, she said in a Facebook post on May 12 accompanied by both the real and fake photos.

Then, three MOUs were signed between the Singapore Business Federation and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Ms Low is the Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth as well as the Ministry of Trade and Industry while also serving as mayor for the South West district.

Ms Low, who won in Bukit Gombak SMC with 75.83 per cent of the votes at the recent general election, urged Singaporeans to be alert and verify social media posts even if this particular scam may have largely affected China residents.

Multiple individuals have reportedly lost large sums of money through the Taibai app. In one case in China’s Ningxia, a 38-year-old woman put more than 370,000 yuan (S$66,000) into the app’s coffers, and realised it was a scam only after the app and the WeChat investment chat group was abruptly shut, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

Ads for investment scams had been circulated through social media, especially during the recent election hustings period in Singapore.

The police had previously warned that these ads may misrepresent notable political office holders in Singapore having endorsed these investments in a bid to persuade would-be victims of the scams.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction

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