After a three-day island-wide operation conducted between 20 and 22 March 2018, 100 people are under investigations for their suspected involvement in various scams. 57 men and 43 women, aged between 15 and 64, are suspected to be involved in 277 cases of scams involving more than S$770,000.
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 (CDSA).
The Police have observed that criminal syndicates recruit money mules, to make use of their personal bank accounts to receive and transfer the ill-gotten gains from other victims of scams. These criminal syndicates will usually reach out to online users by either befriending them through various dating websites and social media platforms or pretending to offer them a “fast-cash” or “work-from-home” job offer.
Criminals have also been known to instruct people to open new bank accounts in Singapore on the pretext of various reasons such as to receive money for their business purposes. Money mules are then further instructed to pass ATM cards, ATM PINs and bank accounts to others. These bank accounts then end up being controlled by criminal syndicates which are often based overseas.
The Police would like to warn the public that bank account holders are accountable for any transaction made in their accounts. Even If they had acted unwittingly, they will be 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.
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 of a scam:
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Your personal bank accounts should only be for your own use and you should not agree to receive any money on behalf of others, especially if the sources of the funds are unknown.
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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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Do not panic if you receive a call from someone claiming to be a government official asking you for payment to avoid being deported or arrested. Bear in mind that scammers can employ caller-ID spoofing technology to make numbers that appear on your caller-ID look like they are from official government hotline numbers. Ignore the calls as no government agency will ask for payments through a phone call.
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When making purchases through online classifieds, be wary of people selling items for prices that sound too good to be true. Remember that the party you are dealing with online is a stranger. Whenever possible, arrange for a physical meet-up and pay only on delivery.
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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
23 March 2018 @ 8:30 PM