Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has issues an alert to inform members of the public about a company which had sent people that were impersonating SCDF’s officers and forcing people to purchase their products, fire insurance or join in the fire safety talks and training seminars.
The company claimed that they were endorsed by the SCDF. The sales personnel presented the company pass with photo identification or the Civil Defence Emergency Handbook to make people believe that they were representing SCDF.
When visiting the houses, the sales personnel often threatened people that they would be fined if their houses are not equipped with the fire extinguishers. SCDF stated that each household is encouraged to have one but it is not a mandatory.
SCDF stressed out that it is not involved in any selling activities or providing insurance policy and it has not authorised any company to conduct such activities on its behalf.
SCDF personnel and members of grassroots are conducting house to house visits in residential heartlands to spread the key massages on SG Secure at this moment, but this activity does not include selling fire extinguishers.
During the visit by the SCDF personnel, the standard procedure would be for the personnel to show the warranty card, NS Identity Card or letter of authorisation as proof of authentication. The picture shown below is the sample of the authorisation letter carried during the SG Secure house visit.
Members of the public are advised to lodge a police report for cases involving the impersonation of SCDF officers or unauthorised business activities.
Individuals are advised to lodge a police report for such cases and file a complaint. Public can call CASE’s hotline 6100-0315 for assistance. They can also file an online complaint via CASE’s website at https://www.case.org.sg/complaint.aspx or walk in to CASE’s office located at 170 Ghim Moh Road.
