Scam victim loses $199,000 to fake cop who used name of real police officer

A person lost at least S$199,000 this month to what police call the Government Officials Impersonation scam.

How the new version of the scam works is the victims would receive unsolicited phone calls with a “+65” prefix allegedly from a bank.

Speaking in English, the scammers would identify themselves as bank staff and tell the victims that there were some financial transactions made on their cards.

When the victims reply that they did not make such transactions, the scammers would tell the victims that the call would be transferred to a police officer for investigation.

Speaking in English, the next scammer would identify himself as a police officer. The scammers would use the name of a real police officer and even advise the victims to call the police hotlines to verify their identities.

After gaining the trust of the victims, the scammers would tell the victims that this is a highly confidential investigation and that they are not to communicate the investigations to anyone else.

The scammers would then request the victims to provide their personal information and bank account information, and transfer money from their accounts to other accounts.

Victims would only discover that they had been scammed when they realised that unauthorised transactions were made from their bank accounts, or when they did not get back the money that they had transferred for the purpose of investigations.

The police would like to emphasise that they do not ask members of the public to provide their bank account information and passwords, or transfer money to any bank accounts.

You are advised to adopt the following precautionary measures:

• Beware of calls with the “+” prefix which originate from overseas.
• Ignore such calls and the callers’ instructions.
• Never share your Singpass or bank account’s login details and One-Time Passwords (OTPs) with anyone.
• No government agency will instruct payment through undocumented media like a telephone call or social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook), or ask you for personal banking information such as your Internet banking passwords.
• Always verify the authenticity of the information with the official website or sources.
• Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and may err in your judgment. Do not be pressured by the caller to act impulsively.
• Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.

If you have any information related to such crimes, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

For more information on scams, you can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.