S’pore, US intercept over $6.5 million lost in business e-mail compromise scam
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The police said they are working with the US authorities and the victim to recover the money.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – The ruse began with an SMS message and an e-mail impersonating the chief executive of an investment banking firm based in Singapore. This resulted in a staff member initiating transfers amounting to some US$6.66 million (S$8.7 million) to a scammer’s bank account in the United States.
The Singapore police said on Oct 8 that its Anti-Scam Command and the US authorities
This type of ruse involves scammers impersonating victims’ business partners or employees via spoofed e-mails.
Preliminary investigations revealed that on Sept 19, the staff member received the SMS message, followed by an e-mail notifying him to transfer money to a bank account in the US for some confidential acquisitions.
Unknown to him, the scammer had used an e-mail address with the chief executive’s full name, closely resembling his actual e-mail, which used an abbreviation of his first name “SC”, the police said.
The staff member then initiated several transfers on Sept 19 and 20 to the bank account provided by the scammer.
On Sept 20, he discovered the scam after being notified by a colleague of a similar SMS and verifying the chief executive’s actual e-mail address. That same day, the firm made a police report, which led to the police swiftly alerting the US authorities to intercept the fraudulent transfers.
On Sept 26, the Anti-Scam Command was informed that the sum was successfully intercepted in the US bank account.
The police said they are working with the US authorities and the victim to recover the money.
“This successful interception underscores the critical importance of international cooperation in combating transnational scam cases, where perpetrators operate in a borderless environment,” the police said.
