The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has issued an advisory that cautions the public against a new scam, which is “a government official impersonation scam variant”.
In a press release yesterday, the SPF said that these “scammers would impersonate officers from the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC), to seek victims’ assistance in investigations”. It added: “Since January 2024, at least 2 victims have fallen prey, with total losses amounting to at least SGD 73,000.”
The SPF release explained: “In this variant, victims would receive unsolicited robocalls from local mobile lines claiming to be from the ASC. Victims would be informed that they are being investigated and are required to report to Police Cantonment Complex for an interview. They would be guided to press ‘0’ to speak to an operator.
“However, victims would be directed to scammers who would then request the disclosure of personal details, such as identification number, as part of the verification process. The call would be transferred to another scammer impersonating a police investigation officer, who would re-engage the victim via WhatsApp call to continue the conversation.”
Victims of such [a] scam variant could be deceived into disclosing personal details, such as bank account details, personal credentials, SingPass password or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) One-Time Password (OTP) for the purpose of assisting in investigations. Such information may be misused to access victims’ bank account to enable unauthorised transactions or create a new bank account under the victims’ name to enable criminal activities.Singapore Police Force
Citing examples of such a scam, the SPF release said: “In previous cases, victims were instructed to transfer money to a bank account for the purpose of assisting in financial investigations. The police will never ask for an individual’s personal details such as identification number, bank account details, SingPass password or 2FA OTP over phone or social messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to assist in investigations.
Police impostor scam screenshot. Image courtesy: Singapore Police Force |
“The police will never ask an individual to transfer money into a bank account under their name or another person’s name to assist in investigations.
“The police would like to remind members of the public not to disclose your personal details to unknown persons without first ascertaining their identity.”
According to Singapore Police, members of the public are encouraged to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
● ADD – Add the ScamShield App to protect oneself from scam calls and SMSes.
● CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources (e.g. ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg).
● TELL – Report the number to WhatsApp for them to initiate in-app blocking. If a person has already disclosed their banking details, the bank should be informed immediately. Other people should also be informed about this scam, so that they do not fall for it.
Anyone with any information relating to such crimes should call the Singapore Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. For urgent Police assistance, dial ‘999’.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected To India)
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