Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd has foiled a scam attempt involving $14,000.
On 17 August 2016 at about 5.00pm, the Police were alerted by Miss Sun Lin Lin, a staff from Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd to a suspected case of cheating. Upon the receipt of report, officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department responded to the case and ascertained that a 25-year-old man had been scammed into remitting $14,000 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that on 16 August 2016 at about 1.59pm, the victim received a phone call from an unknown man claiming that he had a parcel containing prohibited drugs sent under his name to China which had been withheld at the Shanghai Customs. The call was then transferred to someone claiming to be a Shanghai police officer who told the victim that he was being investigated for money laundering offences and required him to provide his particulars, passport number and bank details. Shortly after, the call was transferred to a third person also claiming to be a Shanghai police officer, who instructed the victim to transfer money to a specified bank account. The victim proceeded to the remittance company to transfer the sum of money.
At the remittance company, Ms Sun, who attended to the victim, suspected something was amiss and informed her supervisor, Mr Lee Yong Jie, who notified the Police. Due to the timely intervention by Ms Sun and Mr Lee, the $14,000 was fully recovered.
This case highlights the strong Police-Community partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend Ms Sun Lin Lin and Mr Lee Yong Jie for their timely intervention that helped in foiling the scam.
The Police would like to advise members of public to adopt the following 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 usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are 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
18 August 2016 @ 10:45 AM