A total of 26 men and nine women, aged between 17 and 47, have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the recent spate of Government Official Impersonation Scam (GOIS) cases, following an island-wide anti-scam enforcement operation conducted between 30 September 2024 and 8 October 2024. Another 12 men and 10 women, aged between 17 and 61, and a 16-year-old male teenager are assisting in the investigations.
Over the course of one week, officers from Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) mounted simultaneous island-wide operations and arrested the 35 persons. Preliminary investigations revealed that 25 men and nine women, aged between 17 and 46, had allegedly facilitated the scam cases by relinquishing their bank accounts and/or Internet banking credentials for monetary gains, and a 47-year-old man had allegedly received criminal proceeds in his bank account.
Since early September 2024, the Police have received several reports of GOIS involving 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. The scammer would inform the victim that a credit card has been issued under the victim’s name, or that there were suspicious or fraudulent transactions detected in the victim’s bank account, and would ask the victim to confirm these financial transactions.
When the victim denies knowledge of such transactions, the scammer would transfer the call to a second scammer who would impersonate a government official (from SPF or MAS). These calls could, at times be in the form of video calls, with the scammers dressed as SPF/MAS officers with fake badges, against a backdrop with the agency’s logo. The communication between the second scammer and the victim may subsequently be moved to messaging applications such as WhatsApp. In some instances, the scammers may provide fake warrant cards or fake official documents to lend credence to their deceit. The scammers would accuse the victim of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering and ask the victim to transfer monies to “safety accounts” designated by the government to assist in investigations.
Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when the scammers become uncontactable or when they seek verification of the status of their cases with the banks or SPF.
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. For deceiving the banks into opening bank accounts that were not meant for their own use and relinquishing their bank account login details, they are liable under Section 417 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871 and Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 respectively. The offence of cheating under Section 417 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, or with a fine, or both, while the offence under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries a fine of up to $5,000, or an imprisonment term of up to two years, or both.
The Police take a serious view of these offences and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be sternly dealt with in accordance with the law. The Sentencing Advisory Panel has also published Guidelines[1] that recommend significant imprisonment sentences as the norm for scams-related offences involving the handing over of bank accounts or the disclosure of Singpass credentials. The courts also have the discretion to enhance sentences if there are aggravating factors, such as the involvement of vulnerable victims. Members of the public are reminded that our payment and Singpass accounts are for our own use only and are encouraged to adopt the following precautionary measures to avoid being an accomplice in crimes:
- Do not disclose your payment and Singpass accounts and credentials to anyone else;
- Do not let anyone else access, operate or control your payment accounts;
- Do not receive or transfer money for anyone else using your payment accounts, unless you know him/her and where he/she is;
- Do not ask for the Singpass credentials of another person; and
- Do not supply, offer to supply, transmit or make available, by any means, the Singpass credentials of another person.
[1] The Guidelines may be accessed here.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
11 October 2024 @ 8:45 PM