SINGAPORE – Convinced he was taking an X-ray via the phone, as instructed by who he thought was a police officer, the student posed topless, blindfolded and gagged, while on a video call.

The 21-year-old believed he was speaking to a police officer from China, who had told him there was an outstanding warrant against him for money laundering offences.

But the “officer” was actually a scammer, who then sent a recording of the student blindfolded and gagged to his parents in China, demanding they pay a ransom of 6 million yuan (S$1.2 million).