POLICE ADVISORY ON RESURGENCE OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL IMPERSONATION SCAMS INVOLVING THE POLICE

The Police would like to alert members of the public to a resurgence of a variant of Government Official Impersonation Scam, where scammers would impersonate Singapore Police Force (SPF) officers to convince victims to provide their personal particulars or transfer their money to third party bank accounts. Since January 2023, at least 23 victims have fallen prey to such scams, with reported losses amounting to at least $1.9 million.

The scam occurs in the following way:

1. Members of the public would receive calls from the first scammer who pretends to be a bank officer. The first scammer would allege that the victim’s bank account(s) had transaction issues or was involved in money laundering. The first scammer would then transfer the victim’s call to a second scammer on the pretext of assisting the victim. Some of the numbers used by the scammer to call the victim were observed to be international numbers with a ‘+’ prefix.
2. A second scammer would pretend to be an SPF officer. The second scammer may provide a URL link and ask the victim to fill in the victim’s personal and banking details. The victim would click on the link and would be directed to a phishing site that resembles the SPF official website. The scammer would then instruct the victim to transfer money to third party bank accounts on the pretext of investigations.
3. Victims would then realise that they had been scammed when they contact the bank(s) or the Police via the official avenues to check on their cases.
   
   Members of the public are advised to take the following precautions when they are asked to transfer funds to third party accounts for the purpose of criminal investigations:

1. Ignore the request. Police officers will never (i) ask for the control of your bank accounts, money, or passwords; (ii) require you to transfer your money to another account;
2. Police officers will also not make calls from international numbers. Such numbers can be identified by the ‘+’ prefix in front of the calling number.
3. Check the URL of the website for tell-tale signs of a phishing site.
4. Refrain from giving out personal information and bank account details to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as Internet bank account usernames and passwords, or One-Time Password codes from tokens, are useful to criminals. Do not make any fund transfer(s) at the behest of such callers;
5. Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. Do not be pressured by the caller to act impulsively; and
6. If in doubt, call ‘999’ or approach a police officer at your nearest Neighbourhood Police Centre.
   
   If you have information related to such cases, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please dial ‘999’ if you require urgent Police assistance.

For scam-related advice, please call the National Crime Prevention Council’s Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can ACT against scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.

Annex A

POLICE INVESTIGATE 500 SCAMMERS AND MONEY MULES AND PREVENTED LOSSES OF MORE THAN $260,000 FROM MORE THAN 680 VICTIMS IN ISLAND-WIDE ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS

Between 10 and 24 February 2023, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven Police Land Divisions conducted two separate island-wide operations and prevented losses of more than $260,000 from more than 680 victims. One of the operations was conducted in collaboration with six banks, namely CIMB, DBS, HSBC, OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB.

First Operation

In the first operation, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and the seven Police Land Divisions rounded up a total of 358 men and 142 women, aged between 16 and 76, to assist in investigations for their suspected involvement as scammers or money mules. The suspects are believed to be involved in more than 1,712 cases of scams, comprising mainly investment scams, job scams, e-commerce scams, phishing scams, loan scams, and Government Officials impersonation scams, where victims reportedly lost over $8.6 million.

Police investigations are ongoing for the alleged offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence.

• The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.
  
• The offence of money laundering under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
  
• The offence of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019 carries a fine of up to $125,000, an imprisonment term of up to three years, or both.

Second Operation

In the second operation, the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) of the Commercial Affairs Department and the six banks conducted live interventions by analysing the fund flows of more than 80 bank accounts, which were surfaced in investment and job scam reports. The ASC, seven Police Land Divisions and six banks worked together to engage unsuspecting victims who had been transferring money into these scam-tainted bank accounts.

More than 680 unsuspecting victims were alerted that they could have fallen prey to scams and were advised to stop any further monetary transfers. Many of these victims only realized that they had been deceived after they were engaged and convinced by the Police. Scam proceeds amounting to more than $76,000 were seized and the Police further prevented these scam victims from financial losses amounting to more than $260,000.

The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. To avoid becoming involved in money laundering activities, members of the public should always reject requests to use their personal bank accounts to receive and transfer money for others.

Members of the public are advised to remain vigilant and adopt the following crime prevention measures:

1. Be wary when receiving unsolicited offers of investment or job opportunities via social media platforms or chat applications;
   
2. Understand that investments with high returns will come with high risks,
   
3. Always check with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment;
   
4. Do not be enticed by ‘jobs’ that promise the convenience of working from home and unusually high salary for relatively easy responsibilities. No legitimate business will require employees to utilise their own bank accounts to receive monies on the business’ behalf.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

165 PERSONS INVESTIGATED IN LATEST BLITZ AGAINST UNLICENSED MONEYLENDING ACTIVITIES

The Police are investigating 165 persons, aged between 17 and 78, for their suspected involvement in unlicensed moneylending activities.

During a one-week anti-unlicensed moneylending operation conducted between 20 and 24 February 2023, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and the seven Police land divisions conducted simultaneous raids island-wide.

Preliminary investigations revealed that 11 persons had allegedly conducted harassment at debtors’ residences, with 57 persons believed to be runners who had assisted in unlicensed moneylending businesses by carrying out Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transfers, one person had allegedly assisted unlicensed moneylenders by subscribing to mobile lines and one person had allegedly carried on an unlicensed moneylending business.

The remaining 95 persons are believed to have opened bank accounts and provided their ATM cards, Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and/or Internet Banking tokens to unlicensed moneylenders to facilitate their unlicensed moneylending businesses.

Investigations against all the persons are ongoing.

Under the Moneylenders Act 2008:

The offence of carrying on or assisting in a business of unlicensed moneylending carries an imprisonment term of up to four years, a fine between $30,000 and $300,000, and caning of up to six strokes.

The offence of acting on behalf of an unlicensed moneylender, committing or attempting to commit any acts of harassment carries an imprisonment term of up to five years, a fine between $5,000 and $50,000, and caning between three and six strokes.

The Police will continue to take tough enforcement action against those involved in the unlicensed moneylending business, regardless of their roles, and ensure that they face the full brunt of the law. This includes taking action against those who open or give away their bank accounts to aid unlicensed moneylenders.

Unlicensed moneylenders are increasingly using text messaging or online platforms to send unsolicited loan advertisements. Members of the public are reminded not to reply or respond to such advertisements and to report these messages as spam. Members of the public are also advised to stay away from unlicensed moneylenders and not to work with or assist them in any way. Members of the public can call the Police at ‘999’ or the X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664 if they suspect or know of anyone who could be involved in unlicensed moneylending activities.