The Police have arrested a 31-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in a case of cheating and allegedly providing false information to a public servant.
On 1 November 2020 at about 2.30am, the Police received a report that a woman had impersonated as a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) employee and deceived the victims to make payments on the pretext of offering job opportunities in Singapore.
Through ground enquiries, officers from Woodlands Police Division established the identity of the woman and subsequently arrested her on 14 April 2021. Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman is believed to have cheated at least two victims of more than $3,500. During the course of investigations, the woman had purportedly provided false information to the police officers, with the intention of creating a false impression that she was also a victim.
The woman will be charged on 3 June 2021 with the offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code and providing false information to a public servant under Section 182 of the Penal Code. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term that may extend to ten years and a fine. The offence of providing false information to a public servant carries an imprisonment term which may extend to two years, or fine, or both.
The Police would like to advise the members of the public on the following:
- If it is too good to be true, it probably is. Do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort;
- If you are randomly invited into a messaging application group chat that you suspect is promoting a scam, report the group chat using the in-app function immediately to prevent others from falling prey to scams; and
- If possible, always verify the authenticity of the job with the official websites or sources.
If you have information related to such scams, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please dial ‘999’ if you require urgent Police assistance.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ 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 victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
02 June 2021 @ 11:00 PM