The Police have arrested a 48-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in using other person’s credit card credentials to make unauthorised transactions amounting to more than $262,000.
On 11 June 2025, the Police received several reports from victims of Government Official Impersonation Scams (GOIS), who were deceived by scammers posing as staffs from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Money belonging to the victims were purportedly transferred to a credit card, which was then used to make unauthorised transactions.
Through follow-up investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the owner of the credit card, and discovered that he was also a victim of a GOIS. He had been instructed to apply for a credit card and handed over the credit card credentials to the scammer.
The credit card was eventually traced to a 48-year-old woman and she was arrested on 14 June 2025 while attempting to make a purchase at a jewellery store. Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman had allegedly provisioned the credit card credentials on her mobile phone app and made several fraudulent purchases of gold bars and jewelleries, with the intention of handing them over to the scammers.
The woman will be charged in court on 16 June 2025 with the offence of Abetment by Conspiracy to commit Cheating under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871. The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, and a fine.
Merchants and sales staff are advised to exercise vigilance and adopt correct card acceptance procedures when processing credit/debit card transactions. They should look out for the name and security features on the card face and contact their processing bank immediately for advice if they detect anything suspicious.
The Police would also like to advise all credit/debit card holders to call their card-issuing banks immediately if their credit / debit cards are lost or stolen, and to adopt the following measures to prevent unauthorised use of their cards:
- Opt for an SMS notification to be sent to your mobile phone for any charges incurred on your credit/ debit card;
- Check bank statements and alert the bank immediately should there be any discrepancies or fraudulent charges; and
- Do not give out your credit / debit card details to strangers.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
15 June 2025 @ 10:54 PM