Two alarming incidents of online scam have emerged in Singapore in December, prompting the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to issue a warning about receiving calls and revealing bank details to unknown people on the phone. A 45-year-old woman has been robbed of $31,500 through a fake government website, a week after a 20-year-old man lost $5,600 in the same way.
It has been reported that the woman received a call from a man pretending to be a police officer who said that the woman was suspected of illegal activities and banned from going out of Singapore. Soon after this, another man called her and asked her to give her bank account details on what appeared to be the official website of the SPF. Not only that, the man asked the victim for the One-Time Pin (OTP) over the phone, which she readily gave.
The victim was made aware of the fraudulent transaction by her bank, which advised her to seek police intervention. Investigations are still going on in the matter, reported The Independent.
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Singapore Police has stated that the website in question does not belong to them and is being used to extract personal information and bank account details from gullible victims. Several cases have been reported where victims have lost big sums of money after revealing account information.
The police clarified their official SPF website and urged the public to maintain extreme caution in case such phone calls come to them. People have also been warned not to disclose any personal information to unknown parties, specifying that no government agencies seek information in this manner or ask for the OTP over the phone.
They also warned against transferring money internationally for acquaintances as that might amount to money laundering, which is a common fraudulent practice prevalent in the US and Kenya.
