In May 2025, the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) worked with MariBank to foil a government official impersonation scam case, leading to the successful recovery of $49,000.
On 2 May 2025, a 55-year-old woman received a scam call from someone posing as a bank officer, who claimed that the woman’s credit card had been used for unauthorised purchases in China. When she denied making any such transactions, she was transferred to another scammer impersonating a police officer. The fake officer claimed she was a suspect in a money laundering investigation and threatened her with a 60-day detention if she failed to cooperate.
The woman complied with the scammer's instructions to transfer funds to a bank account. On 24 May 2025, she transferred more than $49,000 to a MariBank account number provided by the scammer. She was falsely assured that the transfer would not affect her account balance.
Due to MariBank’s vigilant monitoring system, this transaction was flagged as suspicious and the bank promptly alerted ASC. ASC officers quickly assessed the situation and successfully engaged the victim to convince her that she had fallen prey to a scam. Through swift intervention by ASC and MariBank, the transferred funds were successfully recovered and potential losses of about $100,000 was prevented.ACT Against Scams
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- ADD – Add security features (e.g. enable International Call Blocking options on mobile devices, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multifactor Authentication for online accounts, Money Lock your bank accounts to further secure a portion of your savings). Do not send money to anyone you do not know or have not met in person before.
- CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources (e.g. call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799 or visit www.scamshield.gov.sg), or with someone you trust. Never disclose your personal information (including SingPass and CPF-related information), internet banking and social media account details, and One-Time Passwords (OTP) to anyone. Always monitor the transaction alerts sent by your bank.
- TELL – Tell the authorities as well as your family and friends if or when you encounter scams. Report and block any suspected scam accounts and chat groups. If you suspect that you have fallen victim to a scam, call your bank immediately to report and block any fraudulent transactions as well as make a police report.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
10 June 2025 @ 10:15 PM