After a three-day island-wide operation conducted between 5 and 7 December 2017, 101 people are under investigations for their suspected involvement in various scams. 48 men and 53 women, aged between 16 and 74, are suspected to be involved in 314 cases of scams involving more than S$1.2 million.
All of the suspects are being investigated for the offence of Cheating, which carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine under the Penal Code, or Money Laundering, which carries a punishment of imprisonment for up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to S$500,000 under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Increasingly, the Police have observed that people are offering their ATM cards, ATM PINs and bank accounts for someone else’s use. In such cases, many claimed that they were instructed by those whom they established romantic relationships with to do so. One of the reasons given to use their ATM cards was for their business operations in neighboring countries.
Police investigations revealed that these “online lovers” were actually criminals based outside Singapore and were using the bank accounts to receive money from various scams targeted at Singaporeans. They then used the ATM cards to withdraw these criminal proceeds from outside Singapore.
The Police would like to warn the public that bank account holders are accountable for any transaction made in their account. These bank account holders are liable for money laundering offences if their bank accounts are found to have been used to receive criminal proceeds. Each bank account holder will be investigated and their bank accounts will be frozen for the purpose of investigation.
To avoid being an accomplice to a money laundering offence, members of the public should always reject requests from strangers or people you have only met online who would like to use your ATM cards and bank accounts.
The Police would also like to remind members of the public to be wary when making online purchases especially those involving attraction and concert tickets, and electronic gadgets. The Police have received numerous reports of online purchase scam cases where victims did not receive their items after payments were made or ended up purchasing invalid or expired tickets.
While the Police will continue such enforcement operations and take firm action against anyone involved in scams, members of the public should take the following precautions to avoid becoming a victim:
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Do not share your personal information such as your identification number, bank account number, One-Time Passwords, or SMS-verification codes with anyone. Your personal information may be abused by scammers;
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Before performing a transaction, find out how the online site safeguards your interest or can help you resolve disputes;
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Be wary of people selling items for prices that sound too good to be true. Check the seller’s track record by reading reviews of their services or contact past customers.
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Bear in mind that the party that you are dealing with online is a stranger. Whenever possible, pay only on delivery.
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A large majority of e-commerce scams take place on online classifieds such as Carousell. For such transactions, it is safer to arrange for a physical meet-up with the seller so that you can verify the authenticity of the items before making payment. If advanced payments are required, use shopping platforms that provide arrangements to only release your payment to the seller upon your receipt of the item; and
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Be mindful that although scammers may provide a copy of an Identification Card or Driver’s licence to gain your trust, it may not necessarily belong to the person communicating with you online. If you are shown a snapshot of an NRIC (front and back), you may check its validity on ICA’s iEnquiry portal at: https://ienquiry.ica.gov.sg/mobile/vCheck.do. Do not deal with the party if the NRIC is found to be invalidated.
To seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 December 2017 @ 11:00 PM