SINGAPORE - A website trying to pass off as the official Singapore Police Force (SPF) website to trick people into giving up their personal details has emerged once again, the police warned on Tuesday (Nov 12).

The police said that they have been issuing advisories on the matter as far back as 2017.

More recently, the issue of the fake website came up in January, when the police sent out an advisory about an impersonation scam in the form of a fake SPF website designed to trick people into providing their personal and financial information.

It later resurfaced in October.

The police said on Tuesday that it received a report last Thursday in relation to the fake website.

A 52-year-old woman told the police that $3,300 had been transferred from her bank account without her consent. She had received a call from someone claiming to be from the SPF who alleged she was involved in illegal activities. The call was then transferred to someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer in China, who then directed her to a website resembling the SPF website.

The victim was then instructed to key in her bank account details, password and one-time password.

The woman suspected that she was scammed after receiving a text message alerting her that money had been transferred from her account into an overseas account.

The police are investigating the case.

They said that victims of this scam typically receive calls from scammers, claiming that the victims are the holders of bank accounts with large amounts of money. The scammers also claim that the victims are suspected of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.

The victims are then directed to the fake police website and they are told to provide information like credit card details and Internet banking passwords for investigation purposes.

The police said that the official police website is www.police.gov.sg and advised members of the public to ignore suspicious calls and instructions to remit or transfer money.

Giving out personal information such as bank details over the phone or on an unverified website can lead to monetary losses, the police added.

Those with information related to such scams can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit a form online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

To find out more about scams, call the anti-scam helpline on1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg