Officers from Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Commercial Affairs Department conducted extensive follow up investigations in two separate cases and tracked down a 24-year-old and a 16-year-old male, who turned out to be victims of a China Official Impersonation Scam (COIS).
In the first case, on 8 September 2022, the Police received a report that a 24-year-old man (“victim”) had allegedly been kidnapped. The victim’s friend, as well as his mother, who were based in China, had received a video of the victim with his hands behind his back and legs bounded together, from an unknown person communicating in Mandarin. Following the report, officers from Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Commercial Affairs Department were activated and conducted extensive investigations to locate the victim. He was eventually found to be safe and sound on 9 September 2022.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim had received an unsolicited call, purportedly from a Ministry of Health (MOH) officer. The scammer alleged that the victim had a parcel detained at the customs which contained illegal Covid-19 medicine. The victim was then routed to another scammer masquerading as “the China Police” for investigations. The scammer purportedly instructed to isolate himself and cease communication with others, to facilitate their investigations. The victim was further instructed to take a video of himself with his hands behind his back and legs bounded, to appear as if he had been captured. The victim was told that the video would be used for their investigations to lure and arrest the syndicate members.
Without the victim’s knowledge, the scammers sent threats alongside the video to his friend and mother. The Police were able to intervene and trace down the victim. Neither the victim nor the friend and mother suffered any monetary losses. Police investigations into the case are ongoing.
In the second case, on 12 September 2022, the Police received a report that a 16-year-old youth (“victim”) had allegedly been kidnapped. The victim’s mother, who was based in China, received a video of the victim with his hands bounded on a sofa and voice recording of the victim crying for help. Following the report, officers from Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Commercial Affairs Department were activated and conducted extensive investigations to locate the victim. He was eventually found to be safe and sound on 13 September 2022.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim had received an unsolicited call, purportedly from a MOH officer. The scammer alleged that the victim was spreading rumours on Covid-19 in China and was allegedly involved in the smuggling of contraband cigarettes from China to Singapore. The victim was then routed to another scammer masquerading as “the China Police”, for investigations. The scammer further alleged that the victim’s particulars might have been misused by his mother in China, as such they would require the victim’s cooperation to stage a hostage situation to convince his mother into telling the truth. The scammer purportedly instructed the victim to isolate himself and take a video of himself. He was then told to cease communication and remain in a house arranged by the scammer.
Without the victim’s knowledge, the scammers sent the video to the victim’s mother to demand for ransom to be paid for his release. The Police were able to intervene and trace down the victim. Neither the victim nor the mother suffered any monetary losses. Police investigations into the case are ongoing.
From January 2022 to August 2022, a total of 476 COIS cases were reported with losses amounting to at least S$57.3 million. The Police would like to highlight that the China Police, Interpol and other overseas law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigations without the approval of the Singapore Government. The Police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and they will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
The Police would also like to advise members of public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties, especially those with the “+” prefix which originate overseas:
- Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions. No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook), or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords;
- 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;
- Refrain from giving out your 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 fund transfers if the caller is of dubious identity;
- Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgement; and
- If in doubt, always hang up the call and check with the Singapore Police Force.
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 Hotline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Do share this advisory with your family and friends to prevent them from being the next scam victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
20 September 2022 @ 9:30 AM