The Police have arrested a 36-year old man, for his suspected involvement in a series of cheating cases.
On 5 April 2018, the Police received a report from a staff of a consumer electronics store with regard to a case of cheating. On 20 March 2018, the consumer electronics store received an email from a spoofed email address impersonating a staff from a pre-school, requesting to purchase Apple products and some other electronic devices from the store. Subsequently, on 26 March 2018 and 28 March 2018, the staff received two purchase orders believed to be from the man and proceeded to give a quotation for the two orders. The staff was informed that as the school term had started, the school required the products urgently. As such between 27 and 29 March 2018, the store allowed the collection of the products from different outlets in Singapore. It is believed that the man had engaged a deliveryman for the collections.
Between 20 and 24 April 2018, two other reports were received from telco companies alleging that they have received several online mobile applications using forged work pass and company’s letters, to apply for mobile services and handsets. The applications were approved and the man is believed to have engaged couriers to collect the mobile handsets at the respective telco outlets.
Through extensive ground enquiries and with the aid of security camera footages, officers from Tanglin Police Division officers established the identity of the man. Following information received from Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza that the man had checked in to the hotel on the afternoon of 3 May 2018, officers worked with the hotel to conduct an operation. On the same day at about 11.30 pm, the man was successfully arrested in the hotel room.
The following items were recovered and seized as case exhibits:
- Cash amounting to S$73,756.73
- Four company stamps believed to be forged
- Electronic devices including one mobile phone, one mac book and one Microsoft Surface Pro
- One foldable knife and one flick knife
- Substances believed to be controlled drugs
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had impersonated a staff from a pre-school, an investment company and submitted forged documents to the electronic store and telco companies to induce them to deliver the products.
The man is also believed to be involved in at least three other similar cheating cases.
The man will be charged in court on 5 May 2018 with the offence of cheating, under Section 420 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. If convicted, he will face an imprisonment term which may extend to 10 years or with fine, or with both.
Retailers are advised to be alert and to adopt the following measures so as not to fall victim to such scams:
- Be wary when dealing with online applications;
- Assess the legitimacy of emails received for purchase requests;
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
04 May 2018 @ 5:50 PM