A total of 18 persons, aged between 17 and 41, have been arrested; and another 21 persons, aged between 16 and 55, are being investigated for their suspected involvement in a Government Officials Impersonation Scam (“GOIS”) case, following an island-wide anti-scam enforcement operation conducted between 21 October 2023 and 6 November 2023.
On 21 October 2023, the Police received a report that a victim had fallen prey to a GOIS, incurring more than $90,000 in losses. Through investigations, the money was found to have been layered through a complex network of bank accounts. Eventually, all of the victim’s losses were withdrawn from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) within the same day.
On 20 October 2023, the male victim had received a call from a female caller (scammer) claiming to be acting for “DBS”, who alleged that someone had attempted to make three bank transactions to transfer funds from the victim’s DBS bank account to a UOB bank account. The woman claimed that she was calling to verify the transfers with the victim. When the victim confirmed that he had not authorised any such transfers, he was told by the scammer that the matter will be referred to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the “MAS Regulations”.
Shortly after, the victim received a call from a male caller claiming to be “Inspector Hoo Jun Hoon” (scammer) from the “Singapore Police Force”. “Inspector Hoo” then sent the victim an image of a fake Police warrant card via WhatsApp. The caller alleged that the victim was a suspect in a case of money-laundering where $80,000 was transferred to his bank account, and the victim’s credit card was found in the possession of a “suspect” whom the “Police” had “arrested”. When the victim denied being involved, he was told to render his cooperation.
Subsequently, the victim received a call from “Inspector Gavin Wei Jun” (scammer), claiming to be “Inspector Hoo’s” superior from the “Commercial Affairs Department”. The victim was told that a formal investigation would be opened and that his full cooperation was required to clear him of money-laundering charges. He was told that “Inspector Gavin” was his liaison officer, and that “Senior Inspector Wong Siew Chong” (scammer) was the overall in charge of the case.
When “Senior Inspector Wong” called the victim, he was referred to an audit officer “Investigation Officer Chua Chee Hong” (scammer) who had to conduct financial inspection of the victim’s personal DBS account. “Investigation Officer Chua” then sent the victim two letters with the Singapore Police Force’s logo via WhatsApp and instructed the victim to open an “OCBC safety account” as this was required by the investigation. The victim was then told to transfer a specific sum of money to this “safety account” so that the investigator could track the movement of the money. Believing that this safety account belonged to him, the victim complied and transferred more than $90,000 to this “safety account”.
Following the victim’s lodging of a police report, officers from the Anti-Scam Command of the Commercial Affairs Department commenced investigations, which led to the conduct of an island-wide operation. 12 individuals were arrested for suspected involvement in selling and renting their bank accounts by relinquishing their bank cards and iBanking credentials to criminal syndicates. A further 21 individuals are assisting with investigations.
Five of those arrested have been charged, and a sixth person will be charged tomorrow, for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993 for abetting persons to secure unauthorised access to our banks’ computer systems:
- a 32-year-old male for selling his bank account to a criminal syndicate.
- a 29-year-old male for facilitating the sale of another person’s bank account to the criminal syndicate.
- a 31-year-old male and a 19-year-old male for assisting the syndicate to perform cash withdrawals from fraudulently obtained bank accounts. At least five mobile phones, more than 90 SIM cards and about 80 bank cards were seized from them.
- a 32-year-old male for collecting cash withdrawn by the 31-year-old male which he subsequently handed over to another member of the syndicate.
- a 24-year-old male for assisting the criminal syndicate to activate fraudulently obtained bank cards and registering the corresponding iBanking accounts. At least three bank cards, four SIM cards and numerous bank correspondences were seized from him.
For abetting persons to secure unauthorised access to the bank’s computer system, the offence under Section 3(1) read with Section 12 of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries a fine of up to $5,000, an imprisonment term of up to two years, or both, for a first-time offender.
The Police take a serious view of the offence and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who may be involved in scams and money laundering. Perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
To avoid being an accomplice to these crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others for their personal bank accounts to be used to receive and transfer money for others. The Police would like to remind members of the public that individuals will be held accountable if they are found to be linked to such crimes.
Members of the public are advised to adopt these three measures to A-C-T (Add, Check, Tell) against scams:
- ADD - ScamShield App and security features (e.g. enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, including PayNow). Do not allow anyone to access your bank account(s) or Singpass.
- CHECK - For scam signs with official sources (e.g. ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, or call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg). Scammers may use the names of police officers to gain trust from the victims. No police officer or government official would require you to transfer money to any designated bank accounts. You may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-000 for further checks and advice after office hours.
- TELL - Authorities, family, and friends about scams and do not be pressured by the caller to act impulsively. Report the number to messaging platforms (e.g., WhatsApp and Telegram) to initiate in-app blocking and report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.
Photos of seized exhibits ▼
Photo of fake Police warrant card sent to the victim. The photo used was obtained online. ▼
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
07 November 2023 @ 9:50 PM