PUBLISHED ONAugust 26, 2026 7:00 AMUPDATEDAugust 27, 2026 2:24 AMBYLim KeweiAn elderly man who hoped to grow his nest egg put about $40,000 into an "AI Robot" product over the course of November 2025.
While James (pseudonym) saw his projected investment returns surge, he experienced just as quickly various difficulties in managing and withdrawing his funds.
Pressured to continue investing, the 68-year-old man attempted to loan money from his son, who flagged the scam.
Undeterred, James continued putting money into the bogus website.
It was only in mid-December that he realised he had been conned, by which point he had lost around $70,000 — part of his life savings.
His son said a police report was lodged but it was too late.
Investment scams remain the third highest scam type reported to the police in the first half of 2026, according to the mid-year scam and cybercrime brief released by the Singapore Police Force on Wednesday (Aug 26).
A total of 2,256 such cases were lodged between January and June 2026, with $169.8 million stolen by scammers. This is a slight decrease of 5.1 per cent from $178.9 million during the same period in 2025.
Speaking to the media in a recent interview, James said he was introduced to the fake investment scheme by a woman he befriended on TikTok in early November.
The young woman, who claimed to be from Malaysia, chatted online about "everyday topics" with James before telling him of a "good opportunity" which she needed his help in.
He recounted: "She told me that she worked for a company which had an AI Robot platform that was not on the public market yet. Because it was not publicly available, outsiders could not invest in Bitcoin through it. So, she asked me to help her operate the investments."
Though initially unwilling, James eventually agreed.
The woman gave him access to an investment account hosted on a website touting the AI Robot products, and he first-handedly saw how returns of between one per cent and 10 per cent were quickly reflected "in a minute".
"I am old and I want to retire, so I joined her and began investing," James said.
He has never met his online friend in person but said he has seen photos of a woman and conversed with her over calls.
"She talked to me in a way that made me feel like she was a friend, so I trusted her," he added.
@asiaone An investment scheme introduced to James (pseudonym) by an online friend quickly spiralled downwards when he was pressured to add more funds to unlock his profits. In the span of about one and a half months, the elderly man lost approximately $70,000. #sgnews #Singapore #scam #police ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
James subsequently opened a personal account on the platform and began investing every few days in increments of between $1,000 and over $4,000.
His account balance progressed and apparently grew to $50,000, which was when trouble struck.
The man invested the sum but did not see the funds return to the platform as per usual. It had been "blocked" at the supposed cryptocurrency exchange, according to James.
"I contacted customer service, and they said it was because the network connection was poor. They told me I had to deposit more money to get the invested funds back," he told reporters.
The scammers also cited a time limit for James to transfer additional monies into his account. If he did not pay, his funds would be lost.
James then turned to his son for financial help. His son inspected the website and attempted to find the AI Robot product on government directories before concluding that it was a scam.
They lodged a police report in end November.
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Even then, the senior citizen admitted that he still did not think he had been tricked.
Without his family's knowledge, James continued engaging the platform to recover his investment sum.
He said he was told that the "blocked" funds had returned to the AI Robot platform. Then came another hurdle: his account's "trust score" had plummeted from to 60 from 100, preventing him from continuing.
"They said I needed at least 80 points [to withdraw my money], with each point worth $2,000. So to raise my points from 60 to 80, I had to put in even more money," he recalled.
The investment con continued until the scammers told James in December that he had to pay a 20 per cent tax for his funds to be withdrawn.
"That was when I started to think that I might have been scammed," he said.
According to James, his account balance had reached about $180,000 — this includes the $70,000 he put in and the 'profits' he made.
He never saw that money again as he was unable to withdraw any.
James admitted that he later realised he had been somewhat "foolish" to believe in the scheme.
"A few years ago, I saw stories about people getting scammed and wondered why they fell for it. But now that it happened to me, I understood why. When you're in that situation, it feels like you can't control yourself," he reflected.
"I want to tell the public to communicate more with their family on investment matters. When you are inside [the scheme], you won't be clearheaded."
And while he still browses TikTok videos, he said he will no longer engage with anyone on the social media app.
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