I received phone call from Singapore MOM. (Ministry of Manpower). The officer informed me that during my recent entry into Singapore, i wrote my dob (date of birth) wrong on immigration card (instead of mm/dd, i had written in dd/mm) upon verification by the embassy of Singapore in Delhi, it failed. I’ve been told my passport has been “black marked” which means I have to deport Singapore immediately and will no longer be eligible to work in Singapore in my entire life!! A High Court case was raised in Delhi too. I was doomed. I can get out of this if my dob can be re-verified and the case can be closed. But, have to report in Delhi high court by tomorrow to get the verification done and settle the case! He provided me with complete details of whomI should contact in Delhi and about the incident with reference numbers. So, I will have to leave tomorrow morning!

He also informed if the verification in Delhi is successful, I have to meet an embassy officer in MOM, to verify my dob certificate, passport, employment pass again here in Singapore. The officer will provide me with the scan copy of immigration card that I had wrongly written, I have to fill in the correct details in the new immigration card. He will sign and email Singapore embassy in India to re-verify and close the case. Verification, case closing charges have to be borne by myself. I was given the option to do the process in Singapore itself by emailing scan copies of birth certificate, passports etc. to the Singapore embassy in Delhi. Then, I can visit MOM later today to meet the officer and finish the formalities to continue my stay.

I was totally in it until he said the amount to pay was $900 for verification & $980 more for case closing! Gosh! Little suspicious now, I inquired if he is legal, he made me open mom.gov.sg website (the official, real mom website Singapore) and check ‘contact us’ page. The call on which I am is from the same phone number!! It must be true! Crazy! While he was trying to find closest sing post address so that I can make payment, I for some reason (was smart enough?) To google “MOM scam” and found that MOM website posted an alert warning users of such scams. I immediately disconnected the call.