The Singapore Police said in a statement on Friday, warning the public of government official impersonation scams, with a victim losing at least $199,000 back in October.
The police said that victims would receive unsolicited phone calls from scammers who identify themselves as bank staff, and alert the victims of financial transactions made on their card.
The numbers would usually come with a +65 prefix.
When the victims reply that they didn’t make these transactions, the scammers would then transfer the calls to a fake police officer, with a scammer using the name of a real police officer.
The scammers would then gain the trust of the victims and ask them to provide their bank details and personal information.
They would then get the victims to transfer money out of their bank accounts to another bank account, and they would then realise that they had been scammed when they find out about unauthorised transactions being made on their card or when they don’t get the money that they had transferred out for the “investigations”.
The police said that there have been several cases of such calls, with only one person having lost money to the scammers ($199k).
The police reminded the public not to share their Singpass, bank account details and OTPs with anyone, and to verify information with official websites.
they added that the police do not ask the public for their bank account information and passwords, or to transfer money.
They added that no local government agency will ask for payment through telephone or social messaging platforms.