The Police have arrested two Taiwanese men, aged 23 and 25, for their suspected involvement in a case of impersonation of Police officer scam.
On 4 August 2017, the Police received a report from a 31-year-old victim who had received a call from an unknown person who claimed to be a Police officer. The victim was told that she was being investigated by the Police for money laundering offences. The call was then transferred to an unknown person who identified himself to be a Police officer from a foreign country.
The victim was then instructed by the caller to key in her internet banking credentials on a website link, http://168.1562035.cf. Subsequently, the victim discovered that her bank account was accessed illegally without her knowledge and about S$45,100 had been transferred to an unknown bank account.
Following the report, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department conducted extensive investigative enquiries. The identities of the two suspects were subsequently established by the officers and they were arrested on 8 August 2017. Preliminary investigations revealed that the two suspects are believed to be involved in at least six other similar cases in which the victims had suffered losses amounting to a total of about S$100,000.
The subjects will be charged in Court on 10 August 2017 for the offence of Dishonestly Receiving Stolen Property under Section 411(1) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, which carries an imprisonment term of up to five years, or with fine, or with both.
The Police would like to clarify that the official SPF website can be accessed at www.police.gov.sg. Members of the public are also advised to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
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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.
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Ignore instructions 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.
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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.
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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.
The Police would also like to inform members of the public to be wary of befriending unknown persons online who may ask to use your bank account to either receive money or transfer money to someone else. You may be in the process of being recruited as a money mule. To prevent yourself from being recruited as a money mule, members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
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Do not give your personal particulars or bank account details to strangers
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Decline any request by acquaintance for money transfers – you might unwittingly be committing a crime by laundering money for another party.
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Report to the Police and the bank immediately if you suspect that you have received unknown monies in your account.
- If you are approached by anyone who claimed to be a Police officer, ask for the warrant card. If you are in doubt, please dial 999 for urgent Police assistance.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Please share this advisory with your family and friends to prevent them from being the next scam victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
09 August 2017 @ 9:59 PM