Victim loses $1.1m over a week to government officials impersonation scam in Singapore; 24 arrested

SINGAPORE – Twenty-four people, aged between 15 and 34, were arrested after a victim lost more than $1.1 million in a week to scammers pretending to be government officials.

Another nine, aged 16 to 70, are under investigation over the case, the police said in a statement on Oct 26. Two of these nine were found to have been scam victims themselves.

The 33 people were hauled up following an islandwide anti-scam enforcement operation conducted between Oct 23 and 24, the police said.

This was after the police received a report involving the impersonation of officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Oct 22.

According to preliminary investigations, the victim received an unsolicited call from a scammer posing as an M1 staff member on Oct 14.

The scammer claimed that the victim had an existing mobile plan contract, which the victim denied. The scammer then offered to help terminate the plan, and claimed that the matter would be referred to MAS for investigation into an information leak.

The victim was later contacted by scammers posing as MAS officers alleging that a bank account under the victim’s name was frozen, and that he was required to safeguard his money and assets.

The victim was scammed of more than $1.1 million between Oct 14 and Oct 22, after being directed to surrender his funds and valuables for “investigative purposes”, the police said.

The funds were transferred through several ways.

Gold bars valued at about $350,000 were purchased and handed over to an unknown woman on two separate occasions, said the police.

The victim was also instructed by scammers to register for a cryptocurrency account to purchase and transfer cryptocurrency to wallet addresses specified by the scammer posing as an MAS officer.

About $124,900 worth of cryptocurrency was transferred to specified cryptocurrency wallet addresses.

The victim was also instructed to make multiple payments through YouTrip QR codes and PayNow QR codes generated on the YouTrip platform for “payment” or “verification purposes”.

The victim used his banking app to scan the QR codes and transferred the money directly into the scammer’s YouTrip wallets.

The bank had contacted the victim on at least two occasions when suspicious transfers were flagged for verification. The victim responded as instructed by the scammers, claiming that the funds were meant for investments and gifts.

Over $600,000 was transferred to more than 60 YouTrip QR codes, and about $26,500 was transferred to a PayNow number linked to a local bank account.

On Oct 22, the victim was again directed to make a second PayNow transfer of $26,500. This transaction did not go through as OCBC bank identified the suspicious transaction pattern and alerted the Anti-Scam Centre, added the police.

The Anti-Scam Centre contacted the victim and managed to convince him that he had fallen prey to a scam.

The police said tracing efforts revealed that the funds in the YouTrip accounts were mostly withdrawn at ATMs overseas within the same day of transfer. The funds in some YouTrip accounts were depleted through online transactions.

Among those arrested, 23 were allegedly selling or renting their payment accounts, such as payment cards or login credentials, to criminal syndicates for monetary gains, said the police.

The last person was arrested for his alleged involvement in facilitating the sale of an individual’s payment account to a criminal syndicate.

The two people assisting with investigations who were found to have been scam victims had fallen prey to government officials impersonation. They had opened YouTrip accounts under the instructions of the scammers and lost about $1,600 and $210,000, the police said.

All 33 people are being investigated for the alleged offences of cheating, abetting unknown persons to secure unauthorised access to a bank’s computer system, and money laundering.

The offence of cheating and assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct carries a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.

The offence of unauthorised access to computer material carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both, for a first conviction.

The police advised people not to transfer or hand over money or valuables to unknown individuals whose identities have not been verified, or place them at a physical location for subsequent collection.

They said government officials will never ask the public to transfer money, disclose banking details or install mobile apps from unofficial app stores over the phone.

If in doubt, call the ScamShield helpline on 1799 to check.

Those with information on scams can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit information online at

www.police.gov.sg/i-witness

All information will be kept confidential, the police said.