SINGAPORE: Scam victims have lost more than S$12 million between January and November to bogus Chinese government officials, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in an advisory on Thursday (Dec 28). 

Police said they received at least 158 reports during the 11 months from victims duped by individuals pretending to be officials from the China Ministry of Public Security or China Interpol. 

Outlining the scammers’ modus operandi, the police said the victims would initially receive messages or calls from a number that may look like official government hotline numbers such as 110 or 999. These scammers usually employ caller-ID spoofing technology to dupe victims, SPF added. 

Victims were then told that they had committed criminal offences and were required to assist in investigations. They were instructed to provide their Internet banking details, including their One-Time Password (OTP) for investigation purposes. Some were directed to a fake SPF or China police website to key in their banking information. 

The scam victims might also be shown fake arrest warrants bearing their photographs on these fake websites. 

The victims were also asked to withdraw their money and pass them to other strangers or remit the cash to bank accounts in China. 

Some victims were also instructed to send nude photos of themselves to prove that they did not have any unique features on their bodies that resembled some criminals the scammers claimed they were looking for. 

These victims were then threatened with arrest by China authorities or risk their nude photos being exposed if they did not do as they were told, SPF said. 

The police highlighted a recent case where a 19-year-old Chinese national student in Singapore was duped into believing that he was under investigation by China Interpol. Under instruction of the scammers, he cut off all communication with his friends and family. 

SPF said the teenager was believed to have been deceived into acting as a secret operative for the Chinese authorities, when in actual fact he was assisting the impersonators in other scam cases targeted at Singapore residents. 

The student is currently assisting the police with investigations.  

SPF also highlighted a separate case of a 17-year-old female Chinese national student in Singapore who was instructed to send nude photos to verify features of her body.

She was earlier deceived into thinking that her credit card was being used for money laundering and was instructed to send the photos in order to prove that she was not connected to the case and did not have any alleged sexual relationship with another male money launderer. 

She then realised that she could be part of a scam, and reported the matter to the police. 

SPF said it takes 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 investigations. 

Anyone convicted of knowingly assisting in dealing with monies derived from criminal conduct may be fined up to S$500,000 or jailed a maximum of 10 years, or both, SPF said. 

Police have advised the public to take the following preventive measures:

• Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions. No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook); or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords. 
• For foreigners receiving calls from persons claiming to be from Police in your home country, call your Embassy/High Commission to verify the claims of the caller. 
• Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals. Do not make any funds transfer.
• Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgment. 

Police also urged people who have any information related to such scams to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or dial 999 for urgent assistance. 

Those seeking scam-related advice may also call the anti-scam helpline (1800-722-6688) or visit the scam alert website, police added.