Chang Chen Zhong Guo Remittance Pte Ltd has foiled a scam attempt involving $10,000.
On 31 August 2016 at about 2.40pm, the Police were alerted by Miss Xiao Qian Qin, a staff from Chang Chen Zhong Guo 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 woman had been scammed into remitting $10,000 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that on 28 August 2016 at about 2.30pm, the victim received an automated message and after following an instruction to press ‘9’, the call was transferred to an operator claiming to be from SingPost who informed the victim that she had sent a parcel containing illegal drugs. The call was then transferred to someone else claiming to be from the Shanghai Police who told the victim that she was involved in money laundering activity and instructed her to report to the office the next day or she would be arrested by authorities in Singapore. The victim was next instructed to remit money to a specific bank account in China through several remittance companies.
At the remittance company, Miss Xiao, who attended to the victim suspected that something was amiss and she informed her supervisor who then notified the Police. Due to the timely intervention by Miss Xiao, a sum amounting to $10,000 was recovered.
This case highlights the strong Police-Community partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend Miss Xiao Qian Qin for her timely intervention that helped in foiling the scam attempt.
The Police would like to advise members of the 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
01 September 2016 @ 7:20 PM