The Police have observed a re-emergence of the Police impersonation scam. A member of the public reported to the Police that she received a phone call from a someone claiming to be from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The victim was asked to provide her bank account login credentials, including One-Time Password (OTP) as part of a new regulation to update her personal details. The victim was also instructed to ignore any SMS that she received from her bank. After providing the information, the victim subsequently discovered that monies were transferred out of her bank account without her consent.
The Police would like to emphasise that the calls were not made by the Police. Members of the public are advised to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
a. 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. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
b. 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. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait a while, then call the number back to check the validity of the request.
c. Don’t give – Do not provide your name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details, and One-Time-Password (OTP). Such information are useful to criminals.
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’.
To seek scam-related advice, you may 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
12 March 2019 @ 3:15 PM