Han Shan Money Express Pte Ltd has foiled another scam attempt involving $11,018.
On 9 November 2016 at about 12.05pm, the Police were alerted by Ms Zhang Lei, a staff from Han Shan Money Express 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 37-year-old woman, had been scammed into remitting $11,018 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that on 1 November 2016 at about 12.00 pm, the victim received a call from a man who claimed to be a police officer from the Singapore Police Force. The man informed the victim that she was involved in money laundering activity in China and instructed her to furnish her particulars via a provided website. Thereafter, she was told to remit $13,000 to a China bank account or she would be arrested by the Interpol. On the same day, she remitted $13,000 and was told to report her daily activities to the authority after the remittance.
On 9 November 2016, when the victim was reporting her daily activities, she was told to remit the remaining money in her bank account. She withdrew $11,018 and went to the Hanshan Money Express at People’s Park Complex to remit the money.
At the remittance company, Ms Zhang, who attended to the victim suspected that something was amiss and she informed her supervisor who notified the Police. Due to the timely intervention by Ms Zhang, the sum of $11,018 was not remitted.
This case highlights the strong Police-Community partnership in crime fighting. The Police would like to commend Ms Zhang Lei for her timely interventions that helped to foil the scam attempt.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
a. 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.
b. 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.
c. 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.
d. Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
e. 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
10 November 2016 @ 6:20 PM