The Police have arrested a 21-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in a case of China Officials Impersonation Scam (“COIS”).

On 20 September 2022, the Police received a report that another 21-year-old woman (“the victim”) had allegedly been kidnapped. Prior to the report, the parents of the victim, who were based in China, received a video of the victim with her hands and legs tied up, with a ransom demand from an unknown person communicating in Mandarin. Following the report, officers from Tanglin Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Commercial Affairs Department conducted extensive searches and investigations to locate the victim. She was eventually found to be safe and sound on 22 September 2022, in a Yishun flat rented by the 21-year-old woman, who was arrested.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the victim had received an unsolicited call from an officer from the Ministry of Health in Singapore who alleged that a phone line registered in the victim’s name was used to cheat people in China. When the victim denied this, the call was redirected to another scammer purporting to be an officer from the “China Police”, who further alleged that a bank account in her name was also found to be involved in money laundering activities in China. To avoid being deported, the scammer deceived the victim into transferring more than $350,000 as “bail money” to bank accounts provided by the scammer. Acting on the scammer’s instructions, the victim also recorded a video of herself being tied up to assist in the purported investigations. Thereafter, the scammer told the victim to cease communication and isolate herself in a “safe house” that the scammer had arranged.

Unknown to the victim, the scammer sent the compromised video to her parents in China and demanded a ransom for her release. Following the report, the Police managed to trace and locate the victim at the unit rented by the 21-year-old woman. Follow-up investigations revealed that the 21-year-old woman had acted on the scammer’s instructions to rent the room for the victim, and handed over a mobile phone with SIM card for the victim to use to communicate with the scammer. Police investigations are ongoing.

From January 2022 to August 2002, a total of 476 COIS cases were reported with losses amounting to at least $57.3 million. The Police would like to highlight that the China Police, INTERPOL and other overseas law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have no jurisdiction 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 would be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.

The Police would also like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties, especially those with the “+” prefix which originate overseas:

• Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions. No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook), or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking password;
  
• For foreigners receiving calls from persons claiming to be from Police in your home country, call your Embassy/High Commission to verify the claims of the callers;
  
• Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on websites or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
  
• Do not make any funds transfer if the caller is of dubious identity.
  
• Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment.
  
• If in doubt, always hang up the call and check with the Singapore Police Force.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
24 September 2022 @ 3:10 PM

A netizen shared how she had paid $60k to an interior designer for renovation works to be done for her home.

However, nothing has been done since their payment in December 2021, and when she asked for her deposit back from the firm, they told her that the deposit was forfeited as “preliminaries”.

Here is what she said

Reno Scams.

We paid him $60k in December 2021 and until date, no works had been carried out. He created disputes that our contract doesn’t encompass the envelope that we wanted the structure to cover.

When we asked for our deposit back, he said that our deposits were forfeited as preliminaries were carried out and contract stated $60k was taken as payment.

Our hard-earned savings had been withheld by him. No submission or physical work were carried out. Police report made, court order summon (he had the audacity to ignore it), CASE filed and Minister letter sent.

Investigating further, we found that the person who is running the show is an undischarged bankrupt and was also the one responsible for his previous company, Platinum Builders & Consultancy, which is also insolvent.

You can read more about his previous company in this forum: *link redacted*

Recently many parties (including Owners, Sub-contractors, Works) have large amounts of money withheld by the company *company name redacted* since last year.

We need help in getting our hard earned savings back, how can he be keeping $60k without any works? Does anyone here have similar encounters?

A housewife from Singapore spoke to The Straits Times on 24 September, sharing about how she had unwittingly consumed cannabis while tucking into a “nice” bowl of noodle soup during her holiday in Chiang Rai.

She said that he only realised that she had made a mistake when she ordered the same dish the following day, and noticed a picture of a cannabis leaf next to the dish’s photo on the menu.

She said that there was no indication that the dish that she ordered had contained cannabis, and she was shocked to find it in an ordinary dish.

She described the cannabis as being boiled in the soup of her noodles just like any other vegetables, and she had thought that it was just kangkong.

Cannabis sold almost everywhere in Thailand

This comes in the wake of Taiwan relaxing their laws on cannabis earlier this year, with more cannabis products being available and accessible in the country.

Another 33-year-old Singaporean who is having his holiday in Phuket, Thailand, shared with Shin Min Daily News that the local shops that are selling cannabis products are found almost everywhere.

In the Patong beach area, there were at least 4 cannabis shops within just a 1km stretch of road, and they can also even be found in convenience stores, supermarkets, bars and etc.

A cannabis syrup cocktail at a bar, costs just 280 baht, or SGD $10.67.