$2.9 million lost this month by scam victims duped into handing over valuables for 'investigation'
At least $2.9 million has been lost this month to scams involving the physical collection of valuables, such as gold bars, gold jewellery and luxury watches.
At least 18 reports of such scams were lodged in February, said the police in a Feb 20 news release.
The victims would receive unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating representatives from insurance companies, financial institutions or retailers. The callers would claim that the victims had outstanding premiums for insurance policies or had made bank card transactions.
When the victims denied the claims, they were transferred to other scammers impersonating government officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or Ministry of Law.
The victims were then accused of being involved in criminal activities, such as money laundering, and were provided with fake documents such as a "warrant of arrest" or "financial inspection order".
They were instructed to hand over their valuables for purported "investigation purposes". These items were either newly purchased by the victims at the scammers' instructions or were already owned by the victims.
They would only realise that they had been scammed when the scammers become uncontactable or when they sought verification with the relevant agencies.
The police advised the public never to leave valuables at a location to facilitate subsequent collection. Members of the public should not transfer or hand over money, cryptocurrencies or other valuables to unknown persons or to anyone whose identity has not been verified.
They also cautioned against assuming a caller is a legitimate government official simply because the name or designation matches information found on official government websites, as scammers may misuse publicly available details.
To verify the authenticity of any calls from MAS officers, members of the public can contact MAS at 6225 5577 or via www.mas.gov.sg/contact-us.
For enquiries related to the Ministry of Law, the public can contact the ministry at 1800 2255 529 or via eservices.mlaw.gov.sg/enquiry.
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
Explore more on these topics
