Bank blocks $130k in fraudulent transfers, saving contractor from ‘convincing’ email scam
A contractor narrowly avoided losing $130,000 after a bank intercepted two fraudulent transfer attempts triggered by scammers impersonating a bathroom supplier via email.
Ms Yan (transliterated), 37, a manager at local bathroom supplier Fullsun Marketing, told Shin Min Daily News that the company had recently entered into a new transaction with a long-term contractor involving $130,000 in payment, when scammers intervened and attempted to steal the funds.
Fake remittance proof did not raise alarm
Ms Yan said the company received what appeared to be a remittance proof from the “contractor” on April 15.
At the time, staff did not suspect anything was wrong and therefore failed to notice a slight difference in the sender’s email address.
When the funds were not received after a few days, a finance staff contacted the contractor to inquire, which revealed the scam.
“The contractor told us they had tried to transfer the money to our “new account” twice, but the payments failed to go through,” she said.
Ms Yan added that the person in charge immediately realised something was wrong, as the company did not have a new bank account.
Further checks showed that scammers had impersonated the company as early as April 8, sending an email to the contractor instructing them to transfer payment to a “new” account.
“The email sent by the scammers was so convincing that the contractor didn’t suspect a thing, and transferred the money as instructed,” Ms Yan said.
“However, the first transfer failed. The scammers then provided another account, but that second transfer failed too. We believe the bank detected an anomaly and blocked the transactions, thus preventing the loss.”
In response to Stomp’s queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that a report has been lodged and investigation are ongoing.
Suspect company’s email account was hacked
Ms Yan said the scam email appeared to have been sent directly from the company’s email account, leading her to suspect it may have been compromised. This could have allowed scammers to access transaction details and carry out the fraud.
Since the incident, she has begun including anti-scam reminders in emails to clients. When in-person meetings are not possible, she would verify payment details over the phone.
Fortunately, neither party suffered any monetary loss, but incident left Ms Yan shaken.
She hopes that by sharing the case, the public will be reminded to stay vigilant and avoid similar scams.
For more information on scams, the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
Separately, on April 22, a Malaysian couple who had worked in Singapore for years lost $80,000 in a scam involving permanent residency applications.
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