Between 22 March and 12 April 2021, the Police have arrested a 19-year-old woman and two men, aged 22 and 62, for their suspected involvement in three separate cases of China Officials impersonation scams (“COIS”). Another 17 men and 11 women, aged between 21 and 56, are also being investigated for their suspected involvement in the COIS cases as money mules.
Since March 2021, the Police have received several reports from victims stating that they had received unsolicited phone calls purportedly from banks or China Police. The victims were informed that their credit or debit card details had been used for fraudulent transactions, and / or their bank accounts were involved in money laundering activities. They were then instructed to surrender their money for investigations and subsequently allegedly deceived into handing over either their banking credentials or cash to money mules for the purported investigations. In most cases, the victims were told to transfer money to bank accounts provided by the scammers. More than $6,920,000 had been lost by the victims who transferred or handed money, ranging from $5,000 to $824,500, to the scammers and money mules.
Preliminary investigations by officers from Commercial Affairs Department revealed that the three arrested suspects had allegedly acted on the instructions of the scammers to meet the victims to collect cash or internet banking tokens. They allegedly showed the victims fake “China International Police” passes when they met. On some occasions, the suspects would hand “official investigation documents” to the victims in order to create the impression that the victims were under investigations by the China Police. Some of the victims also received letters printed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s letterhead, stipulating the bail amount to be paid. As for the other 28 suspects, preliminary investigations revealed that they had allegedly acted as money mules by relinquishing their bank accounts to the scammers who took control of their bank accounts for money laundering activities or purportedly facilitated the scammers in the transferring of money.
The suspects are being investigated for the offences of cheating, using as genuine a forged document, cheating by personation, money laundering and/or providing payment services without a licence.
- The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.
- The offence of using as genuine a forged document under Section 471 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to 4 years, a fine, or both.
- The offence of cheating by personation under Section 419 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term up to 5 years, or with fine, or with both.
- The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act carries an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
- The offence of carrying on a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019 carries a fine not exceeding $125,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. As scammers’ tactics continue to evolve, members of the public are advised to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
- Don’t panic – Ignore the calls and caller’s instructions. No government agency will request for transfer of money, personal details or bank account login credentials over the phone. Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act as you may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
- Don’t believe – 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. From 15 April 2020, all incoming international calls will be prefixed with a plus (+) sign. Stay vigilant when receiving any unexpected international calls, and reject those which spoof local numbers.
- Don’t give – Never disclose your name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details, and One-Time-Password (OTP) to anyone. Such information will be abused by criminals.
The Police would like to warn members of the public that it is a serious offence to impersonate law enforcement officers and to collect money from other persons, on the instructions of callers claiming to be officers from law enforcement agencies.
If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
For scam-related advice, please call the National Crime Prevention Council’s anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg. Join the “let’s fight scams” campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next scam victim.
Case Exhibits Seized
Fake Passes
Fake Official Investigation Documents
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
14 April 2021 @ 12:40 PM