Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd and Hanshan Money Express Pte Ltd foiled two separate scam attempts involving over $40,000.
On 29 September 2016 at about 3.00pm, the Police were alerted by a staff from Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd to a suspected case of cheating. Upon the receipt of report, officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department responded to the case and ascertained that a 43-year-old lady had been scammed into remitting $37,000 to an overseas account.
Investigation revealed that on 23 September at about 1.00pm, the victim received a phone call from an unknown man alleging that her credit card was involved in money laundering offences and that she was under investigation. Being concerned of her alleged involvement in a criminal offence, the victim adhered to the man’s instructions of transferring $37,000 to an overseas bank account to resolve the matter.
The victim proceeded to the remittance company to transfer the money on 29 September 2016. The staff who attended to the victim suspected something was amiss and informed her supervisor who notified the Police.
Separately, on the same day at about 3.20pm, the Police were alerted by a staff from Hanshan Money Express Pte Ltd to another case of suspected cheating. Upon the receipt of report, officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department responded to the case and ascertained that a 24-year-old man had been scammed into remitting $3,200 to an overseas account and $2300 via Bitcoin Vending Machine.
Investigations revealed that on 28 September 2016 at about 10.00am, the victim received a phone call from an unknown woman identifying herself as a police officer, alleging that the victim was involved in money laundering offences. Being concerned of his alleged involvement in a criminal offence, the victim adhered to the woman’s instructions to transfer a sum of $5,500 via Bitcoin Vending Machine located at Hong Lim Complex to resolve the matter. However, the victim only managed to transfer $2,300 via the Bitcoin Vending Machine. The woman then instructed the victim to transfer the remaining $3,200 to an overseas bank account through a remittance company.
At the remittance company, the staff who attended to the victim suspected something was amiss and informed his supervisor who then notified the Police.
Cash amounting to $40,200 was recovered due to the timely intervention of the remittance companies.
These cases highlight the strong Police-Community partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend the staff of Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd and Hanshan Money Express Pte Ltd for their timely intervention that helped in foiling the scam.
The Police would like to advise members of public to adopt the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
- 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.
- Ignore instruction 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.
- 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.
- Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
- 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
30 September 2016 @ 8:00 PM