An attempted scam attempt involving $200,000 was foiled through the joint collaboration between Maybank, the Commercial Affairs Department and Central Division.
On 2 August 2016 at about 12.57pm, the Police were alerted by the staff from Maybank’s branch at People’s Park Centre to a suspected case of cheating. Ms Doreen Ong and Ms Christine Ting, the two staff who attended to the 72-year-old female victim, suspected that something was amiss when the victim requested to transfer a sum of $200,000 citing that she needed to help a friend who was facing an issue with foreign immigration.
Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and Central Division responded to the case and ascertained that the victim had been scammed into transferring $200,000 to a local bank account. Investigations revealed that the victim had been communicating with an unknown suspect via Facebook messaging and Whatsapp for over 5 years and had transferred a sum of money amounting to $75,500 on two previous occasions.
Through continuous engagement with the victim, the Police eventually managed to convince the victim that the request for monetary assistance was a scam and she did not make any further funds transfer. Police investigations are ongoing.
The public is advised to exercise caution when befriending unknown persons over the Internet and to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
-
Be cautious of requests to remit or transfer money to people acquainted online or people you do not know well enough. The criminal can spend months building rapport with you online before asking for money;
-
Do not accede to request(s) that may put you in a vulnerable position, such as performing compromising acts in front of the webcam, or giving personal details about yourself when interacting with other internet users;
-
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, you should report the matter to Police and not transfer the money;
-
Do not allow your personal bank accounts to be used by other persons for financial transaction purposes. You could unwittingly become an accomplice to receiving money obtained from crime.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 August 2016 @ 10:20 AM