Police warn of scam calls by operators impersonating cops

Chew Hui Min
The Straits Times
Friday, Mar 17, 2017

The police have issued a warning against scam calls from people impersonating police officers.

The police said they received information that members of the public are receiving calls with numbers ending with 0000.

Some examples are 63550000, 63530000 and 65350000.

An operator speaking in Mandarin, claiming to be a police officer, asks the call recipients for personal information such as their IC numbers.

For cases in which the calls were not immediately taken by the recipients, automated Mandarin voice messages would direct recipients to call 999 and to proceed to the police station or police headquarters with their identification cards, the police said in a Facebook post on Friday (March 17).

Police clarified that these are scam calls and advised members of the public to take the following precautions:

• Ignore such calls and the caller's instructions.

• Request to hang up the call and state that you will perform a call back to verify.

• Do not provide your name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details. Such information are useful to criminals.

• No government agency will request for personal details or transfer of money over the phone or through automated voice machines.

• When in doubt, call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722 6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg

Members of the public may call the police hotline on 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness should they have any related information.

They should dial 999 only if urgent police assistance is required.