In April 2025, the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) collaborated with DBS Bank and the Singpass Anti-Fraud Team to foil two separate Government Official Impersonation Scam cases, preventing losses of S$820,000.
Case 1 – ASC, Singpass Anti-Fraud Team and DBS Bank prevented S$200,000 in losses in a Government Official Impersonation Scam
In the first case, on 2 April 2025, a 44-year-old man was contacted by an unknown caller who allegedly claimed to be a ‘Citibank staff’ informing him that a credit card that he had applied for was used to purchase cryptocurrency. When the man denied applying for the credit card, the ‘Citibank staff’ referred him to a ‘staff’ who allegedly impersonated as a staff from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The ‘MAS staff’ then told the man that he was under investigation for money laundering, and would need to transfer S$200,000 to a DBS bank account provided by the scammer for investigation purposes. The ‘MAS staff’ had also asked the man to share his screen via WhatsApp while making the transfer.
Anti-scam measures implemented by ASC, and the Singpass Anti-Fraud Team, allowed the DBS Bank Anti-Mule Team to detect suspicious activities in the scammers’ bank account. They swiftly intercepted the transfer, successfully preventing a loss of S$200,00 for the victim.
Case 2 – DBS Bank prevented S$620,000 in losses in a Government Official Impersonation Scam
In the second case, on 2 April 2025, a 77-year-old woman requested to make a cash withdrawal of S$200,000 at DBS Bank’s Holland Village Branch. When the staff enquired on the purpose of the transaction, the woman explained that it was for her nephew’s wedding. Suspecting that she had fallen prey to a scam ruse as she had already withdrawn S$160,000 the day before, the bank staff referred the woman to the DBS Bank Anti-Scam team, who then sought assistance from ASC to intervene.
During the engagement, the ASC officers discovered that the woman was contacted by an unknown caller who allegedly claimed to be a ‘telecommunications company staff’, who then referred her to scammers impersonating the ‘Hong Kong Police’ and ‘MAS staff’. The ‘Hong Kong Police’ told her that she was being investigated for money laundering and had to withdraw S$620,000 and hand it over to the ‘MAS staff’ for investigation purposes. The prompt escalation by DBS Bank and timely intervention by ASC prevented the loss of S$620,000 for the victim.
ACT Against Scams
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- ADD – Add the ScamShield app and set security features (e.g. set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and e-wallets).
- CHECK – For scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield helpline (1799). You can also 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. Check with the merchant listed in the advertisement/post to ensure that the post is reputable and legitimate.
- TELL – Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.
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
29 May 2025 @ 2:30 PM