The Police have received several reports since January 2018 where victims were made to believe that their child residing in Singapore had been kidnapped, and they were required to pay a ransom to secure their child’s release.
The modus operandi of such scams is as follows:
Step 1: Victims, typically Chinese national students in Singapore received unsolicited calls from scammers claiming to be a staff from telecommunication companies, the embassy, law enforcement or the court, informing them that their mobile number and/or bank account had been involved in a crime.
Step 2: The calls would then be transferred to a person claiming to be an officer from the China Police or Interpol. The caller would inform the victims that they had committed criminal offences and were required to assist in criminal investigations by doing any of the following, in order to prove their innocence and to avoid being charged for the offences:
- Withdraw their money and pass it to strangers or transfer money to another bank account.
- Transfer money via cryptocurrency cash deposit machine or purchase Bitcoins and provide the Bitcoins registration numbers to the callers. Most victims have been asked to conduct these transfers at a bitcoin machine at Tiong Bahru.
Victims were then instructed to update their whereabouts to the scammers over the next few days. Thereafter, the syndicate would inform the victims to change their SIM cards and log out from their social media messenger. Victims were also asked to give their personal information on their families in China to scammers.
Step 3: When victims reveal personal information of themselves or their families in China, scammers will use this information to cheat the victims’ parents. For example, they would contact the victims’ parents to dupe them into believing that their children have been kidnapped and demanded payment of ransoms. In some cases, the scammers may even instruct the victims to call their parents to tell them that they have been kidnapped and to ask them to transfer the ransom to a particular bank account.
The Police would also like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
- Don’t panic – Ignore the calls and caller’s instructions. No government agency will request for personal and banking details or transfer of money over the phone, through automated voice machines, or through other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook). The scammers may try to make you panic and keep you on the phone so that you have no time to verify if it was a scam. Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
- Don’t believe – For foreigners receiving calls from persons claiming to be from Police in your home country, call your Embassy/High Commission to verify the claims of the caller.
- Don’t give – 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. Do not make any funds transfer.
If you have any information related to such crime, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or dial ‘999’ for urgent Police assistance.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Please share this advisory with your family and friends to prevent them from being the next scam victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
14 September 2018 @ 5:30 PM