SINGAPORE: Two scam attempts involving a total of S$8,500 were foiled on Thursday (Sep 1) by two separate remittance firms, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced on Friday.
For the first case, a staff from Zhongguo Remittance, Mr Shi Ze, detected a suspected case of cheating at 1pm on Thursday. It was then discovered that a 25-year-old lady had been scammed into remitting S$5,000 into an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that the lady received a phone call claiming she had won “prize money” through a lucky draw in Hong Kong, and had to transfer the money as a processing fee for the prize. Upon discovering that the lady had been scammed, Mr Shi informed his supervisor, Mr Lee Yong Jie, who then called the police.
This is at least the sixth such case that Zhongguo Remittance has helped to thwart. In the second case, an employee from Hanshan Money Express, Ms Yang Weichan, detected a case of suspected cheating at about 6pm on Thursday. It was then discovered that a 37-year-old man had been scammed into remitting S$3,500 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that at 7.30am on Thursday, the man received a phone call claiming that he had a parcel containing “prohibited medications” sent under his name to China which had been withheld at Shanghai Customs.
Police said the call was then transferred to someone claiming to be a Shanghai police officer, who told the victim that he was being investigated for money laundering offences, and required him to provide his particulars and bank details. The call was then transferred to a third person also claiming to be a Shanghai police officer, who instructed the victim to transfer S$3,500 to a specified bank account, through a remittance company.
Upon detecting the scam, Ms Yang told her supervisor, Mr Lin Jin Xian, and Mr Lin then notified the police.
Both the S$5,000 and the S$3,500 were fully recovered, police said. This is at least the second time Hanshan Money Express has thwarted a scam, after it was commended for its role in stopping an 80-year-old woman from being cheated of S$180,000 in a parcel scam.
“These cases highlight the strong police-community partnership in crime fighting,” police said, adding that it “would like to commend Mr Shi, Mr Lee, Ms Yang and Mr Lin for their timely intervention that helped in foiling the scam”.
