SINGAPORE: A man came close to losing S$ 250, 000 ( US$ 185, 000 ) after falling prey to scammers posing as a bank staff member and a police officer.
The 56-year-old was first called from a bank employee who was acting as a scammer on June 6, according to a police press release on Friday ( Jun 14 ).
He was informed that his credit cards had a suspicious transaction.
The visit was then relayed to a “police agent,” who claimed the man had been target of identity theft and had frozen the money in his bank accounts.  ,
The “police agent” gave the man instructions to help with the analysis by creating an online Standard Chartered bank accounts and transferring$ 250,000 from his other bank accounts to the new account.  ,
The gentleman was also instructed to provide the new account’s password and login information because the bill was being looked into by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
After complying with the demand, the person told his family about the event. He eventually realized he might have been defrauded and reported the incident to the police.  ,
According to the Singapore Police Force ( SPF), officers from the Anti-Scam Centre were called in and Standard Chartered’s anti-fraud team immediately halted online banking and suspended the bank account, preventing any fund movement.  ,
” Due to the sharp answer, the total amount of S$ 250, 000 was recovered”, SPF added.
The police emphasized that authorities officials do not demand that people make bank transfers or give out personal information via text messages or phone calls.  ,
SPF continued, adding that government officials from different nations do not have the constitutional authority to compel Singaporeans to take these steps.  ,
At least S$ 13.3 million was lost in December reportedly in February as a result of government official imitation schemes.
Government agency SMSes will be sent using a second sender ID, known as gov, to protect against frauds. sg, instead of the specific companies, from Jul 1 onward.  ,
Anyone who has data relating to schemes can call the police at 1800- 255- 000 or send it electronically.  ,