17 cases of a scam involving scammers posing as interested buyers of old currency notes were reported to the Police since January 2019, with at least $44,000 cheated.
According to the Singapore Police Force, the scammers would either send a friend request on Facebook or request to follow victims, who are sellers of old currency notes, on Instagram.
Then after the victims accepted the request, the scammers would then advertise that they were collectors of old currency notes and asked victims to contact them.
The police said that in some cases, the scammers would message the victims to ask if they have old notes to sell. Once a victim has expressed interest, the scammer would then offer to buy the victim’s notes at high prices. Victims would then receive fake receipts from scammers as proof of successful payments and asked to pay administrative fees to the scammers.
While in some cases, victims would also receive calls or messages from foreign enforcement agencies and banks informing them of the need to transfer more money. In all the cases, the victims eventually did not receive any payment.
The police advised members of the public to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- Don’t be impulsive – Beware of unusual requests from strangers. Do not fall for the scammers’ tricks. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Don’t believe – Scammers may provide receipts of payment to make you believe that they are genuine buyers. Do not fall for it.
- Don’t give – Do not make payment to unusual requests or give out your personal information, credit/debit card and bank account details to strangers.
Members of the public who wish to provide any information related to such crimes can call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at Singapore Police Force (SPF)’s website and dial 999 for urgent Police assistance.