Yet another member of the public has fallen prey to scammers impersonating government officials, this time to someone pretending to be a Singapore Police Force (SPF) officer. A Facebook page Complaint Singapore member posted information on the scammer on Monday (Dec 5), urging others to be aware of the modus operandi.
“My friend was a victim of this person and took her money worth S$2,500,” said the netizen. “Today, I received a call from him pretending to be a police officer. Even wearing a police uniform with the banner in the back. The scammer also provided a fake ID during the video call. Be careful and mindful all the time,” the concerned individual added.
She noted that a police report had been made on the incident.
As of December 2021, 752 victims have fallen prey to impersonation scams, losing about S$106.4 million in total. The largest amount lost by an individual was S$6.2 million, noted scamalert.sg.
An impersonation scam usually involves a phone call from someone claiming to be a local government official, staff from a bank or telco, or a representative of a Chinese bank or courier company.
Members of the public can detect if the unsolicited call is a possible scam if the person on the other end requests personal details or uses scare tactics, such as claims that the receiver has committed an offence.
The calls often come from a “+” number and shouldn’t be answered unless the receiver is expecting an overseas call.
“Received a call from a man pretending to know me, knew my name. Spoke in Malaysian accent,” said an impersonation scam target on Dec 6.
“I asked who he is he said, ‘you don’t know? We just met/talked the other day’, seemed to be goading me into giving a name. I kept saying I don’t know, then he said he would WhatsApp me, but he never did.”
More details on the different scams and how to avoid them can be found here. /TISG
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