Woman, 64, saved from losing $100,000 to fake bank and MAS employees who accused her of money laundering
Prompt intervention by the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and DBS Bank helped prevent a 64-year-old woman from losing $100,000 to a government official impersonation scam.
The woman had received a call from a self-proclaimed bank employee on April 9, informing her of alleged unauthorised transactions on her credit card.
When she denied making these transactions, the 'bank employee' referred her to a 'staff member' from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The 'staff member' told the woman that she was under investigation for money laundering, and would need to provide her banking credentials and transfer $100,00 into a bank account.
The 'staff member' also assured her that the funds would be returned once the investigation was completed.
The woman complied with the request.
The attempted transaction was detected by DBS's anti-scam team, who contacted the woman to verify its purpose.
Upon learning that she had disclosed all her banking credentials to the scammer, DBS escalated the case to the ASC, who coordinated with other banks to temporarily suspend outgoing transactions while the victim proceeded to lodge a police report.
The transaction was stopped in time and a potential loss of $100,000 was prevented.
The police advised members of the public to take precautionary measures against scams by applying the ACT acronym, which outlines three steps to take: Add security features, check for signs of a scam with official sources, and tell the authorities and others when you encounter scams.
For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
Those who have any information relating to such crimes or who are in doubt about a phone call or message can submit a report online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness or call 1800-255-0000.
