The Police have arrested a 33-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of China official impersonation scam (COIS). A 61-year-old man is also being investigated for his suspected involvement in the case.
On 16 May 2021, the Police received a report that a 21-year-old man went missing in Singapore. On 20 May 2021 at about 8.00am, the parents of the missing person, who were based in China, received ransom demands from an unknown person in China and they reported the matter to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) immediately. Pursuant to the report, officers from Clementi Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Commercial Affairs Department conducted extensive searches and investigations to locate the 21-year-old man who was eventually found to be safe and sound at the residence of the 61-year-old man on 20 May 2021 at about 3.00pm.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim had received an unsolicited call, purportedly from a scammer who claimed to be a police officer from China. The scammer purportedly claimed that there was a police warrant against him in China for money laundering offences and later instructed the victim to stop all communications with his family and friends. The scammers then allegedly instructed him to pose in front of a video call with his hands placed behind, gagged and blindfolded, to allow them to take an “X-ray” photo for comparison with their “investigation findings” in China. Without the victim’s knowledge, the scammer allegedly sent a video of the victim to his parents in China and demanded a ransom to be paid for his release.
Preliminary investigations also revealed that the 33-year-old man and 61-year-old man are also believed to be a victim of COIS. The 33-year-old man had allegedly received $1,000 from the scammers, and he bought and handed a mobile phone and SIM card to the victim for the victim’s communication with the scammer, and booked a hotel room for the victim to stay in, to create his supposed “disappearance”. These were all allegedly done on the scammer’s instructions. The 61-year-old man was also believed to have carried out the scammer’s instructions by allowing the victim to stay at his residence as the scammer claimed that the victim was an important witness for a police investigation.
Police investigations are ongoing. If found guilty for the offence of cheating under section 420 of the Penal Code, the duo face an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. Those found guilty of the offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, also face a penalty of an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
The Police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and they would be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.
The Police would like to highlight that the China Police, INTERPOL and other overseas law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigations without the approval of the Singapore Government.
The Police would also like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls from unknown parties, especially those with the “+” prefix which originate overseas:
- Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions, especially those who claim that they are overseas officials such as China Police, Interpol Police or other overseas law enforcement agencies. No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook), or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords;
- For foreigners receiving calls from persons claiming to be from Police from your home country, call your Embassy/High Commission to verify the claims of the caller;
- 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 or one-time password (OTP) codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
- Do not make any funds transfer if the caller is of dubious identity;
- Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment; and
- If in doubt, always hang up the call and check with the Singapore Police Force. No individual can be recruited as a law enforcer without undergoing proper and formalised enforcement training.
If you have any information related to such crimes, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or dial ‘999’ for urgent Police assistance.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the Anti-Scam Hotline 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.
Screenshot of the messages from scammers
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
26 May 2021 @ 3:55 PM