Police have arrested a 59-year-old man suspected to be involved in a case of cheating.
On 13 October 2015, police received a report from a 66-year-old woman believed to have been cheated of more than $54,000. The victim had befriended a man purporting to be a sailor through social media and was told that his belongings would be sent to her for safe-keeping. The victim subsequently received calls claiming that her friend’s parcel contained a large amount of cash and was detained by the authorities from a neighbouring country. After making several payments upon the requests by unknown callers, the victim grew suspicious and lodged a report as she did not receive the parcel eventually.
Through follow-up investigations, officers from Jurong Division arrested the suspect at Raffles Place on 15 October 2015. During the arrest and subsequent raids, the Police recovered cash amounting to more than $126,000. Two handphones were also seized for investigations.
Investigations against the suspect is on-going. Anyone found guilty for the offence of Cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code is liable to be punished with imprisonment for up to 10 years and fine.
Members of public are advised to be aware of such scams and to adopt the following measures:
- Exercise caution when befriending strangers through the internet
- Do not send money to people you do not know well. Scammers may spend months building an online relationship with you before asking for money
- Contact the Police immediately if you receive any message or call from anyone claiming he/she is in some kind of trouble overseas and need you to urgently send money over
- Inform the Police if anyone tries to extort money from you
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 October 2015 @ 7:15 PM