Two men nearly lost more than $3 million in a scam where scammers posed as government officials

In March, two individuals narrowly dodged losing a combined sum of over $3 million in separate scam attempts, thanks to the swift intervention of their banks and the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) of the police.

As per a police media release on Wednesday (April 17), both incidents involved fraudsters masquerading as government officials.

In the first case, a 76-year-old individual was contacted by a scammer posing as a bank staff member, who informed him that his identity was being misused. Subsequently, he was directed to another scammer posing as a “Singapore Police Force” officer, alleging involvement in money laundering. Presented with a choice of a lengthy investigation or a quicker “Priority Financial Inspection” requiring money transfers, the victim, seeking prompt resolution, transferred over $127,500 to three specified accounts. When funds ran short, he withdrew $98,000 from his Central Provident Fund account. UOB flagged the dubious transactions, blocking them and involving ASC, whose officers convinced the victim of the scam.

In the second incident, a 52-year-old was informed by a scammer impersonating a senior police inspector of being under investigation, instructed to transfer $200,000 daily for two weeks to various accounts for “inspection and verification.” Upon depositing a $500,000 cheque to the scammer’s account for inspection, DBS Bank’s anti-mule team intercepted it, halting the funds and alerting ASC. The victim was informed by ASC of the scam, preventing further losses totaling $2.9 million, according to the police.