Woman transfers $290k to scammers, but manages to get back $250k

SINGAPORE – A 77-year-old woman recovered $250,000 in October after she fell for a scam involving the impersonation of a public servant and transferred $290,000 from her savings.

A scammer, pretending to be a Standard Chartered Bank employee, called the victim and told her that several unauthorised transactions had been made to a credit card created in her name, the police said in a release on Nov 1.

The scammer then referred the victim to a fake Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officer, who told her over the phone to reveal personal information, such as bank account balances and online banking credentials.

The victim was told the information was needed because the magnetic strip of the credit card had been compromised, and it would help resolve the issue.

The fake MAS officer then told the victim to transfer her savings into a DBS Bank account for further investigations. She deposited a $250,000 cheque into the DBS account and $40,000 into several other bank accounts.

The DBS account was flagged as a suspicious account due to anti-scam measures put in place, and the transaction was intercepted. The $250,000 was eventually recovered through a joint effort by the police’s Anti-Scam Centre, the Singpass Anti-Fraud Team and DBS.

The police said the DBS account belonged to a 25-year-old woman who had allegedly sold her Singpass credentials and bank accounts for $600. Investigations revealed that the woman’s Singpass credentials were used by scammers to move money from scams.

The woman was arrested, and police investigations are ongoing.

The police said government agencies would never request banking and Singpass credentials or ask a person to transfer money over the phone or via text messages.

For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield helpline on 1799. To report any information about such crimes, call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness