A total of 17 men and five women, aged between 22 and 56, have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the recent spate of Government Official Impersonation Scam (GOIS) cases, following an island-wide anti-scam operation conducted between 13 March and 22 May 2025. Another four men and five women, aged between 22 and 77, are assisting in the investigations.
Since early March 2025, the Police have received several reports of GOIS featuring the impersonation of banks and government officials. In this variant, the victim would first receive an unsolicited call from a scammer impersonating a bank officer, typically from DBS, OCBC, UOB or Standard Chartered Bank, or a staff of China-based Services, such as UnionPay, WeChat, etc. The scammer would inform the victim that he/she was suspected to be involved in a criminal matter and then helped to connect the victim with a “Police Officer”. The scammer impersonating as a “Police Officer” would then convince the victim to part with their cash, jewellery and/or bank cards to an agent of the “Police Officer” for investigation. In some instances, the victim would be instructed to purchase gold bars before parting the gold bars to an agent of the scammer.
Preliminary investigations revealed that these 31 persons had allegedly facilitated the scam cases by collecting cash, bank cards, jewellery and/or gold bars from various victims of GOIS. These persons acting as ‘mules’ would meet the victim in public places to collect from them cash, bank cards, jewellery and/or gold bars and then hand these items to another ‘mule’ or leave them unattended at a public place for another ‘mule’ to pick them up.
Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when the scammers become uncontactable or when they sought verifications with the banks or SPF.
Police investigations are ongoing. The offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under Section 55A(5) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment of up to three years, a fine or both.
The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to use your bank account or mobile lines as you will be held accountable if these are linked to crimes.
The Police would like to inform members of the public that government officials will never, over a phone call, ask you to transfer money, disclose banking log-in details, install mobile apps from unofficial app stores or transfer your call to the Police.
Members of the public are encouraged to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- ADD – Add the ScamShield app and set security features (e.g. set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and e-wallets, use the Money Lock feature of your bank to “lock up” a portion of your money so that it cannot be transferred out digitally by anyone, further protecting your savings from scams). Do not disclose your personal information, bank/card details and One-Time Passwords (OTPs) to anyone.
- CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield App. Call and check with the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
- TELL – Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately and make a police report.
If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
Photographs of Exhibits Seized ▼
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
28 May 2025 @ 1:05 PM