Woman gets video call from scammer in police uniform, hands over $60k in cash and gold
The police will be charging two men, aged 24 and 47, for their suspected involvement in several cases of government official scam (GOIS).
On Dec 3, the police received a report where a scammer impersonated an officer from the Singapore Police Force.
The victim had allegedly received a video call from the scammer dressed in a police uniform and was told that she had purchased an insurance policy and that her personal information has been misused.
She was instructed to surrender her money and valuables for the purpose of investigations, and handed over cash amounting to more than $7,000 to an unknown person.
Subsequently, she was given further instructions to purchase gold worth over $53,000 and handed them to another unknown person.
Through extensive ground enquiries and follow-up investigations, officers from the Anti-Scam Command established the identities of the unknown persons as a 47-year-old Malaysian man and a 24-year-old Singaporean man who is believed to be involved in similar cases in Singapore.
The 47-year-old man was arrested when he attempted to leave Singapore on Dec 10.
Two mobile phones and a fake staff pass of an investment company were seized as case exhibits.
The 24-year-old man was arrested on Dec 11.
Cash amounting to $5,000 was recovered and seized as case exhibit.
Preliminary investigations revealed that both men had allegedly been tasked by unknown persons, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash and valuables from other scam victims.
The men would then hand over the cash and valuables to the said unknown persons. The 47-year-old Malaysian man had allegedly used the fake staff pass to identify himself before collecting cash from scam victims.
The two men will be charged in court on Dec 12 with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under Section 51 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992.
The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to ten years, or a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill was passed on Nov 4.
Upon commencement of the legislative amendments, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least 6 strokes, which can go up to 24 strokes.
Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds, providing SIM cards and providing Singpass credentials will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.
These include certain money-laundering offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992; Singpass offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1993; and certain SIM-card offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906.
The police continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.
The police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Members of the public are reminded to never transfer or hand money or valuables to unknown persons and persons whose identity you did not verify.
If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.
