https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ment-officials-and-bank-officers-in-september
SINGAPORE - More than 100 cases of official impersonation scams were reported in September, with victims losing at least $6.7 million in total.
The victims received phone calls from scammers posing as officers from major banks such as DBS, OCBC, UOB or Standard Chartered, said the police and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a joint statement on Oct 10.
The scammers falsely informed victims of suspicious transactions or credit card issues and asked them to verify the authenticity of the transactions.
If victims denied knowledge of the transactions, the call was transferred to another scammer impersonating a government official.
Communication with the second scammer often occurred on messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
The scammers would make video calls while wearing fake police or MAS badges and using backdrops to appear legitimate. Sometimes, they produced fake warrant cards or fake official documents.
The victims were then accused of criminal activities such as money laundering and asked to transfer money to “safety accounts” for investigation purposes.
Victims typically realised they had been scammed when the “officials” became unreachable or when they attempted to verify their cases with banks or the police.
The public is urged to adopt precautionary measures such as enabling security features, checking for scam signs and reporting scams to the authorities. For more information or to report such crimes, individuals can contact the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or visit the ScamShield website.
SINGAPORE - More than 100 cases of official impersonation scams were reported in September, with victims losing at least $6.7 million in total.
The victims received phone calls from scammers posing as officers from major banks such as DBS, OCBC, UOB or Standard Chartered, said the police and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a joint statement on Oct 10.
The scammers falsely informed victims of suspicious transactions or credit card issues and asked them to verify the authenticity of the transactions.
If victims denied knowledge of the transactions, the call was transferred to another scammer impersonating a government official.
Communication with the second scammer often occurred on messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
The scammers would make video calls while wearing fake police or MAS badges and using backdrops to appear legitimate. Sometimes, they produced fake warrant cards or fake official documents.
The victims were then accused of criminal activities such as money laundering and asked to transfer money to “safety accounts” for investigation purposes.
Victims typically realised they had been scammed when the “officials” became unreachable or when they attempted to verify their cases with banks or the police.
The public is urged to adopt precautionary measures such as enabling security features, checking for scam signs and reporting scams to the authorities. For more information or to report such crimes, individuals can contact the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or visit the ScamShield website.
