Singapore: 79-year-old woman nearly loses S$260,000 to scammers posing as officials

A 79-year-old woman virtually misplaced S$260,000 after being duped by two scammers, who posed as officials from the financial institution and police, however was saved by the SPF’s Anti-Scam Centre.

Fortunately for her, a Standard Chartered financial institution employees, who labored in tandem with the ASC, flagged the transaction, successfully shutting down the rip-off earlier than it may come to fruition.

An official news release said that the sufferer managed to get the quantity again.

S$260,000 for helping in investigations

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) reported that the woman had acquired a name from the primary scammer, who impersonated a financial institution officer, in September 2023. After being informed that her “account had been frozen for investigation”, the second scammer was launched.

Impersonating a Singapore Police Force official, the second scammer informed the woman to “report her whereabouts 4 occasions day by day and never to reveal particulars concerning the investigation”. This went on until November, following which she was instructed to promote her Unit Trust investments held with Standard Chartered Bank, amounting to greater than S$260,000.

She was additionally directed to switch the quantity to a third-party checking account supplied by them. This the scammer mentioned would assist in investigations.

“The transaction was detected by a Standard Chartered Bank relationship supervisor, who seen the sufferer’s uncommon banking behaviour and outgoing transfers to a suspected mule’s checking account. He promptly escalated the case to the Standard Chartered Bank anti-fraud workforce, who reached out to ASC for intervention,” the discharge mentioned.

“The ASC instantly labored with Standard Chartered Bank’s anti-fraud workforce to conduct fund circulation tracing, which led to figuring out and freezing of all of the scammer-controlled accounts. This prevented the lack of over S$260,000. ASC officers additionally swiftly adopted up with the sufferer to alert her of the misleading scheme,” it added.

The SPF additionally listed advices for residents to comply with and keep away from such cases sooner or later.

Precautionary measures

Members of the general public are suggested to undertake the next precautionary measures:

ADD – ScamProtect App and security measures (e.g. allow Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and arrange transaction limits for web banking transactions, together with PayNow).

CHECK – For rip-off indicators with official sources (e.g. ScamProtect WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, name the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or go to www.scamalert.sg). Never set up software program from unverified sources as they could be distant entry software program permitting others to observe what you do in your gadget and even take management of it. Additionally, you need to by no means permit others to watch you enter your private particulars or financial institution login particulars.

TELL – Authorities, household, and associates about scams and don’t be pressured by the caller to act impulsively. Report the quantity to WhatsApp and Telegram to provoke in-app blocking and report any fraudulent transactions to your financial institution instantly.