SINGAPORE - The timely intervention by a staff member of a remittance company prevented a 25-year-old victim from losing $1,000 in a scam, police said on Thursday (Aug 4).
In a press release, police lauded Ms Sun Lin Lin, who works at Zhongguo Remittance Ptd Ltd at People's Park Complex, for foiling the scam attempt.
Ms Sun, who had attended to the victim, suspected something was amiss when he attempted to transfer $1,000 to an overseas account.
She then notified her supervisor, who called the police.
Police investigations revealed that the victim had received a phone call on Wednesday (Aug 3) afternoon, claiming that he had a parcel containing illegal items that been sent under his name to Shanghai.
The caller, who said the parcel was withheld at Changi Airport, then transferred the call to someone claiming to be a police officer in Shanghai.
The "officer" informed the victim he was being investigated for money laundering offences in the country and requested he provide his bank details.
He subsequently received further instructions to transfer the money to an overseas account.
"This case highlights the strong Police-Community Partnership in crime fighting. The police would like to commend Ms Sun Lin Lin for her timely intervention that helped in deterring a scam," the statement said.
Should members of the public receive unsolicited calls from unknown parties, they should heed the following advice from the police:
- 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; and
- 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.
