The Police have noticed a new scam variant, where scammers would contact victims via phone calls, pretending to be the victims’ friends, and thereafter, ask for financial assistance from the victims.
In these cases, the victims would receive phone calls from unknown numbers. Upon picking up these calls, the callers would not identify themselves. Instead, they would ask the victims questions such as: “Guess who am I? You can’t remember me?”. Victims would then think that the caller was someone they knew. The victims would reply the caller with the name of their friends whom they believe the caller could be. Thereafter, the caller would assume the identity of the said friend and would claim to have lost their handphone or changed their contact number. The caller would contact the victims subsequently asking for a loan due to financial difficulties, or having gotten into trouble with the law. Victims would then be asked to transfer the money to bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals, as provided by the callers. Victims would only discover that they had been scammed when they contacted their friends and realised that they had not contacted the victims nor changed their contact number.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- Beware of unusual requests received, even if they appear to be from your family or friends;
- Verify whether the request is legitimate by checking with your family and friends through alternative means such as physical meet-ups or using previously established contact details; and
- Never send money to people whom you do not know or have not met in person before.
If you have information related to such crimes or if you are in doubt, 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
22 June 2021 @ 2:45 PM