SINGAPORE — In a development that has left many locals completely dumbfounded, thousands of Singaporeans have once again lost significant amounts of money to scammers, proving that an email promising instant wealth from an overseas Nigerian prince still holds an irresistible allure.

“I just don’t understand how this happened,” said Jason Tan, who recently wired $5,000 to a man claiming to be an ‘official financial agent’ operating out of an undisclosed location. “The website looked so legit. It even had a picture of a gold coin and a lion logo.”

Authorities have confirmed that despite years of relentless public education campaigns warning citizens about online scams, many Singaporeans still have an uncanny ability to confidently hand over their life savings to dubious figures.

“We’ve tried everything—TV commercials, social media ads, billboards, even warning labels on ATMs,” said local coffeeshop lady Rachel Lim. “And yet, if a random WhatsApp message tells someone they’ve won an iPhone, they’ll click the link faster than you can say ‘CPF withdrawal.’”

In an effort to combat rising fraud cases, the local authority has proposed an innovative new system in which banks will briefly insult customers before allowing large transactions.

“If a customer tries to send money to an unknown account, the system will pop up with a message saying, ‘Really meh? You sure you falling for this? Have some self-respect,’” explained official Leonard Goh. “If they persist, the bank will then automatically sign them up for a basic financial literacy course.”

Despite these efforts, some Singaporeans remain hopeful that their investments in “secret government schemes” and “blockchain-powered horse racing syndicates” will eventually pay off.

“I know my friends say I got scammed, but I have faith in the guy I met on Telegram,” said victim Vanessa Ng, clutching a stack of remittance receipts. “He said I just need to send one more payment to unlock my profits.”

At press time, scammers worldwide are reportedly overjoyed that despite Singapore’s world-class education system and extremely high PISA ranking, its citizens still display an almost admirable level of financial naïveté.