Samlit Moneychanger Pte Ltd has foiled a scam attempt involving $5,000.
On 23 September 2016 at about 3.30pm, the Police were alerted by Ms Novianti Goh, a staff from Samlit Moneychanger Pte Ltd, to a suspected case of cheating. Officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department responded to the case and ascertained that an attempted scam involving a 38-year-old male victim had occurred.
Investigations revealed that on 23 September 2016 at about 10.50am, the victim received an automated phone call claiming to be from the Police. He was then directed to a female operator claiming to be an officer from the Singapore Police Force, who informed him that he was under investigation for money laundering activities and liable to be arrested. The victim thus provided his personal details to the operator. Shortly after, the victim received another call from a man purporting to be a police officer, who told him that his account had been used for money laundering activities and that officers were on stand-by to arrest him. However, the male caller volunteered to bail him for a sum of $5,000 which was to be remitted to a bank account in China. Throughout their phone conversation, the caller instructed the victim not to divulge any details of their correspondence.
At the remittance company, Ms Goh who attended to the victim noticed that he appeared nervous and seemed to be taking instructions from the caller. Miss Goh then communicated with the victim by writing on a piece of paper. As she suspected something was amiss, she immediately notified the Police.
Due to the timely intervention by the staff, the victim’s money was recovered.
This case highlights the strong Police-Community partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend Ms Goh for her timely intervention which helped to foil the scam attempt.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
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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
24 September 2016 @ 6:15 PM