A Moneychanger and a Remittance Company have foiled a scam attempt involving $25,000.
On 7 July 2016 at about 3.05 p.m., the Police were alerted by Mr Malik Sameer, a staff from Samlit Moneychanger Pte Ltd to a suspected case of cheating. Upon the receipt of the report, officers from Central Division responded to the case and ascertained that the 59-year-old victim had been scammed into remitting S$25,000 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that on 2 July 2016, the victim had received a phone call claiming that she had a parcel with 28 credit cards under her name at Changi Airport DHL. The victim was directed to make withdrawals from the bank before proceeding to the moneychanger. At the moneychanger, Mr Malik who attended to the victim suspected something was amiss and alerted the Police upon the victim’s departure. Subsequently, the victim went to Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd to remit the money. The staff, Ms Li Chunyan attended to the victim and similarly suspected something was amiss and told the victim to wait while she went into her office to alert the Police. However, the victim had left after completing the remittance transaction.
Through prompt follow-up effort by officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department, the identity of the victim was established and she was promptly contacted. Due to the quick intervention, the money was fully recovered and returned to the victim.
This case showcases the strong Police-Community Partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend Mr Malik Sameer and Ms Li Chunyan for their timely interventions in deterring a scam. Meanwhile, the Police would like to advise members of public to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
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Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. Calls that appear to be from a local number may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait five minutes, then call the number back to check the validity of the request.
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Ignore instruction to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party's bank account.
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Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account username and password, OTP code from token, is useful to criminals
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Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
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If you have information related to such crime or if you are in doubt, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or dial 999 for urgent Police assistance.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 July 2016 @ 7:30 PM