The Police are investigating a 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman for their suspected involvement in a China Officials Impersonation scam.
On 21 April 2020, the Police were alerted to a case where the victim was cheated by scammers who claimed to be an officer from the Chinese authorities. About two weeks earlier, the male victim received a call from an unknown man claiming to be an officer from the Chinese authorities who alleged the victim of being involved in a transnational fraud. The caller said that he would send an ‘agent’ to pass official documents to him.
On 12 April 2020, a man visited the victim near his residence to issue a ‘warrant of arrest’, purportedly from China, with the victim’s name on it. The victim became worried and decided to comply with the instructions of the ‘officer’ who called him. On 20 April 2020, he was instructed to withdraw $20,000 and to hand it to a woman, whom the ‘officer’ sent to meet him. He felt suspicious after that and lodged a Police report.
Through follow up investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and Bedok Police Division established the identities of the man and woman who met the victim. The sum of $20,000 was also recovered.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man and woman have received similar calls from scammers claiming to be from the Chinese authorities and were instructed to act for them. Both the man and woman were also victims of a China Officials Impersonation Scam. Police investigations are ongoing.
The Police advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls to transfer money to others in order to avoid criminal investigations:
· Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions. No government agency will demand payment through an undocumented medium like a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook); or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords.
· Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on a 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. Do not make any funds transfer at the behest of such callers.
· Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. Do not be pressured by the caller to act impulsively.
· To seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
The Police would also like to warn members of the public not to collect money from other individuals, on the behalf of unsolicited callers claiming to be officers from law enforcement agencies. Such callers are most likely scammers, and members of the public who act on their instructions will be investigated by the Police.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
30 April 2020 @ 3:35 PM