60-year-old woman is cheated of $80,000 in police impersonation scam

A 60-year-old woman has reported being cheated of a whopping $80,000 after falling victim to a police impersonation scam recently.

Sharing the details of the case in an advisory on its Facebook page yesterday, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) revealed:

“On 14 November 2017, the police received a report from a 60-year-old woman who was cheated of $80 000 in a police impersonation scam. She had earlier received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer who informed that her bank accounts had been used for money laundering purposes and investigations were ongoing. She was told to provide her personal information and was warned not to share details of the investigations with others.

“The victim subsequently received a call from another person who directed her to a webpage resembling the Singapore Police Force’s website. She was instructed to key in her bank account details and passwords while at the webpage. The victim later lodged a report after finding out that a huge sum of money had been transferred from her bank accounts without her consent. Investigations are ongoing.”

The SPF advised to public to exercise caution when answering calls from unknown individuals and for the public to refrain from disseminating their personal information to strangers:

“Do note that the official SPF website is www.police.gov.sg. We would like to advise the public to be cautious when answering unsolicited calls from unknown parties. Refrain from giving out your personal information and bank details, whether to callers over the phone or on websites, as such information are useful to criminals.”