The conman wanted Mr Tan to send money to an accomplice in China via a Western Union branch at Lucky Chinatown shopping centre.

But staff members at the branch had been told to warn customers of such scams.

When this reporter posed as someone wanting to remit money to 'Zian You Wei' in China, the counter staff member asked politely for the reason.

When I said the money was for a friend, they asked if I knew him personally, if I had met him before, and pressed me for more details on the reasons for remitting the money.

When I asked if there was a problem, they said I could be the victim of a phone scam.

The Straits Times reported in January that Western Union, which has 65 agents islandwide, had helped to prevent a number of people from falling victim to phone scams.

Between last July and September, its employees stopped five to seven transactions daily.

The country director of Western Union for Singapore and Brunei, Mr Cedric Dias, said it takes consumer fraud seriously.

'We train our frontline staff to recognise the signs that suggest someone may have been targeted in a scam.'

He added that if an employee suspected a scam, they are empowered to decline transactions and advise customers to call the police for advice.

Mr Dias said one common sign is when the consumer does not know the receiver.

His advice: Only send money to someone you know and trust.

The police said 11 people lost money to conmen via phone kidnap scams between August 2007 and March 2008. The amounts range from $500 to $52,000.

Police Assistant Director (Media Relations) Toh Boon Ngee said: 'Typically, the callers would threaten members of the public that their next-of-kin would be harmed unless money was transferred to them.

'In some instances, during the phone conversations, cries of help could be heard from the purported kidnap victim in order to make the threat seem genuine.'

Those who receive kidnap-scam calls should remain calm and question the kidnapper to verify the identity of the purportedly kidnapped victim.

Examples of such questions are the number of family members living together or whether there are pets at home.

This can help them establish if the call is genuine. They should also try to contact the person alleged to have been kidnapped.

If repeated attempts at contacting their loved ones fail, seek help from the police immediately.