The Anti-Scam Command (ASCom) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF), in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities and INTERPOL, has made a recovery of more than SGD 300,000 in a case of Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scam.
On 15 January 2025, a staff of a product trading company based in Singapore lodged a police report stating that her company had fallen prey to a case of BEC Scam. Through follow-up investigations and with the assistance from the UAE authorities and INTERPOL through the INTERPOL Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP), ASCom successfully recovered the full funds which was returned to the company.
Preliminary investigations revealed that on 7 January 2025, the staff received an email from a “supplier” notifying it to transfer the payment for services rendered to a new bank account based in the UAE. Unbeknownst to the staff, the “gmail.com” in the supplier’s original email was replaced with “asia.com”. The staff then initiated a transfer of more than SGD 300,000 to the purported supplier and the funds were directed to the fraudulent bank account maintained in the UAE. On 14 January 2025, the staff discovered the fraud after being informed by their genuine supplier that they had not changed their bank account.
The SPF remains committed to working closely with international counterparts to combat cross-border criminal activities and uphold the integrity of the global financial system. This successful recovery underscores the critical importance of international cooperation in combating transnational scam cases, where perpetrators operate in a borderless environment.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
03 February 2025 @ 8:05 PM