The Singapore Police Force (SPF) issued a press release which stated that Han Shan Money Express Pte Ltd had foiled a scam attempt involving $1,900, which was the second scam foiled by the company within a week.
Ms Zhan Lei, a staff from Han Shan Money Express Pte Ltd, alerted the Police that she suspected a case of cheating on Tuesday (6 September) at about 1.05 pm.
Immediately, officers from Central Division and Commercial Affairs Department responded and found out that a 30-year-old woman had been scammed into remitting $1,900 to an overseas account.
The woman said that at about 8 am that day, the victim received a call from a lady who claimed to be from SingPost. The lady said that there was a parcel containing counterfeit items sent on behalf of the victim’s name. Therefore, the parcel had been intercepted by the Shanghai Police. The lady suggested the victim to lodge a report to Shanghai Police if she had not sent the parcel.
The call then transferred to someone else who claimed to be from the Shanghai Police. The “Police” then told the victim that she was involved in money laundering activity and instructed her to report to the office the next day or she would be arrested by authorities in Singapore. The “Police” then instructed the victim to remit money to a bank account in China.
At the remittance company, Ms Zhang, who attended suspected that something was amiss and she informed her supervisor who notified the Police.
Due to the timely intervention by Ms Zhang, a sum amounting to $1,900 was recovered.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
- Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. Calls that appear to be from a local number may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait five minutes, then call the number back to check the validity of the request.
- Ignore instruction to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party’s bank account.
- Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
- Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
If you have information related to such crime or if you are in doubt, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or dial 999 for urgent Police assistance.
