03/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/20/2024 02:19
In February and March 2024, the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) partnered and worked with CIMB Bank and Hong Leong Finance to avert losses of about $3.7 million in three scam cases involving the same victim.
In the first case, on 6 February 2024, CIMB's Fraud Management Team detected some large transactions amounting to $2.1 million being made from an 82-year-old victim's bank account. Following that, both the ASC and CIMB officers jointly engaged the elderly victim at his residence. To protect the victim, ASC also sought his son's assistance to provide family support to the victim and the CIMB's fraud management team suspended the victim's bank account to prevent further losses. A sum of $1.3 million was recovered with the remaining sum being dissipated overseas prior to the police report.
On 7 February 2024, the ASC was alerted by the victim's son that three cheques amounting to $1.2 million were issued by Hong Leong Finance under victim's instruction to three individuals. ASC worked with Hong Leong Finance and instructed the bank to hold the cheques, pending further verifications.
On 9 March 2024, the ASC was alerted by CIMB's Branch Operation Team, that the elderly victim was accompanied by an unknown man at CIMB Bank Branch to purchase a cashier's order of $1.2 million. Pursuant to the information, officers from ASC and Central Police Division responded swiftly and engaged the victim at the CIMB bank. A 20-year-old man was subsequently arrested for his suspected involvement in a Government Officials Impersonation Scam (GOIS) case.
Through follow-up investigations, Anti-Scam Command (ASCom) officers seized two mobile phones and some documents, which were used in the commission of offence from the man's possession. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man, who had acted under the instructions of fake China Police, had impersonated as a Chinese Police officer and accompanied the elderly victim to the CIMB bank. He had demanded the victim to purchase a cashier's order amounting to $1.2 million. Preliminary investigations also revealed that the man is believed to be involved in another three GOIS cases between February and March 2024.
Investigations against the man are still ongoing. The offence of cheating by personation under Section 419 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term up to 5 years, or with fine, or with both. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.
The Police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Anyone found to be involved in such scams will be subjected to police investigations.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties with the "+" prefix phone numbers that originate from overseas:
ACT Against Scams
Members of the public are advised to adopt the following precautionary measures:
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/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial '999'.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
Case Exhibits Seized ▼