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The Police would like to alert members of the public to a surge in cases of Government Officials Impersonation Scams, where scammers impersonate officials from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and China. Since January 2026, at least 72 cases have been reported, resulting in losses of at least $6.1million.

In this scam variant, the victims would receive unsolicited calls from scammers claiming to be from ICA. The scammers would claim that the victims’ details had been misused or that their phone numbers had been linked to criminal activities, such as spreading false rumours or transmission of scam messages. When the victims denied any involvement, the calls would then be transferred to another scammer impersonating a China official. The purported China official would then demand money for “investigation or bail purposes”. To facilitate “investigations”, the victims would then be instructed to transfer money to bank accounts, or asked to withdraw and hand over the money to the purported China official. The victims would only realise that they had been scammed when the scammers became uncontactable or when victims sought verification from the relevant government agencies. 

Members of the public are reminded to: 

• Never share sensitive information such as bank card Personal Identification Number (PIN) with others.
• Never transfer or hand over money and other valuables to any unknown persons, or persons whose identities you had not verified with official sources. 
• Never place money or valuables at a physical location to facilitate subsequent collection. 

Singapore Government officials, including officials from ICA, will never do the following:

• Ask you to transfer or hand over money, luxury watches, gold or cryptocurrency;
• Ask you to obtain loans from licensed moneylenders;
• Ask you to disclose banking log-in details; 
• Ask you to install mobile apps from unverified app stores; or
• Transfer your call to the Police, or any other government officials.

Do not trust unsolicited communications, even if the caller appears to have your personal information. Members of the public are also encouraged to adopt the following precautionary measures:

• ADD – Add the ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes. Set security features (e.g. set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks). 
  
  
• CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources. You can check the legitimacy of suspicious messages, phone numbers, and website links via the ScamShield app or visit the ScamShield website at www.scamshield.gov.sg. 
  
  
• TELL – Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.

If you are in doubt, call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799 to check. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!