$6.9m lost to scammers posing as govt officials since January
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Seized exhibits from a government impersonation scam. A total of $6.9 million has been lost to such similar scams since January.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
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SINGAPORE - Scams involving criminals posing as government officials are on the rise, the police said on Saturday, with at least 62 people duped out of some $6.9 million since the start of this year.
The scammers, who commonly pose as Singapore and China officials, work in teams to swindle their victims, accusing them of being involved in crime before asking them for payments, said the police in a statement.
In the case of one victim, scammers even tried to extort a ransom from her parents in China by alleging that she had been kidnapped.
The victim, a 23-year-old woman, had received an unsolicited call this month, purportedly from an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer, alleging that she had a parcel detained at Customs with “illegal Covid-19 medicine”, according to preliminary police investigations.
She was then routed to another scammer masquerading as “the China police”, who duped her into transferring 150,000 yuan (S$29,000) as “bail” to a bank account controlled by scammers or face being deported back to her home country.
The woman was also instructed to report to the scammer posing as a police officer from China six times a day. On Monday, she was told to “isolate herself and cease communication with others, to facilitate their investigations”, said the police.
“The scammer also instructed her to take a video recording of herself with her hands and legs tied up to pretend that she had been captured,” the police added.
She was told the video would be used to lure and arrest “syndicate members”, but unbeknownst to her, scammers used it to extort a ransom from her parents.
The police said their officers had conducted extensive follow-up investigations and tracked down the victim on the same day in a hotel.
Another two men and a woman were subsequently traced by the police between Wednesday and Thursday for their suspected involvement in the case. They were found to have fallen for similar ruses by the scammer and were alleged to have committed money laundering offences. One of them was deceived to transfer up to 891,000 yuan (S$172,500) purportedly for “bail” and investigation.
A fake official document used by the scammers
PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
Warning people against falling for such scams, the police said “overseas law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigations without the approval of the Singapore Government”.
“The police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and they will be dealt with firmly, in accordance with the law,” they said.
Separately, the police also said that 401 men and 183 women, between the ages of 16 and 71, were also being investigated for being involved in scams, either as scammers or money mules.
The suspects, who are being investigated for the offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence, were identified following a three-week operation between March 24 and Friday.
They are suspected of being involved in more than 1,900 cases of scams, where victims reportedly lost over $12.5 million.
If found guilty of cheating, they can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. Money laundering carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
Meanwhile, the offence of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence carries a fine of up to $125,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both.
For more information on scams, people can visit scamalert.sg
Anyone with information on scam activity may call the police on 1800-255-0000 or submit the information online at
