The Police have arrested a 36-year-old man for his suspected involvement in an impersonation of Police officer scam.
On 25 July 2016, the Police were alerted by a bank that a man was making suspicious transactions from his bank account. Upon receipt of the information, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and Commercial Affairs Department followed up with intensive investigative probes and enquiries. Preliminary investigations established that earlier in the day at about 10.00am, a 37-year-old woman had received a call from an unknown person who claimed to be a Police officer. The woman was then told to provide her personal details and particulars, including her internet banking credentials and One-Time Password (OTP), to the said “Police officer” for investigation purposes. Subsequently, the victim discovered that about S$32,000 had been transferred from her bank account to the suspect’s account.
The suspect was arrested on the same day at about 5.45pm in a Police operation.
The suspect will be charged in Court on 27 July 2016 with the offence of Dishonestly Receiving Stolen Property under Section 411(1) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 which carries an imprisonment term of up to five years, or with fine, or with both.
The Police would like to advise members of public to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
a. Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. Calls that appear to be from a local number may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait five minutes, then call the number back to check the validity of the request.
b. Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party's bank account.
c. Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
d. Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
e. If you have information related to such crime or if you are in doubt, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or dial 999 for urgent Police assistance.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
26 July 2016 @ 11:30 PM