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Thinking she was being investigated for a felony, a woman gave $ 1 million in cash to a ‘Chinese official’ over the course of five days.
As it turned out, she was being misled by scammers.
The victim filed a police report in July, saying she had received unsolicited phone calls from unknown persons claiming to be Chinese authorities.
Police said in a press release today (October 30) that they arrested two women, ages 19 and 30, for their alleged involvement in a phishing scam.
Officers from the Department of Business Affairs identified and arrested both suspects on the same day the police report was made.
The younger woman is believed to have acted on the scammers’ instructions to collect the victim’s cash and deliver the money to the older woman.
Police investigations against the 19-year-old suspect are ongoing.
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old suspect will be charged today in court with helping another person withhold the benefits of criminal conduct, police said.
For being involved in an arrangement to facilitate the withholding of the criminal benefits of others, she can face a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $ 500,000, or both.
Another victim scammed $ 500,000 by ‘Chinese official’
Earlier this week, the police received a report of a similar nature.
A woman posing as a Chinese official was said to have defrauded a victim of around $ 500,000 after meeting him near Block 409 Bedok North Avenue 2, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
He handed the money to the suspect, who was seen dressed in office clothes in CCTV footage.
Before the October 23 meeting, the victim had received phone calls from people claiming to be Chinese authorities, asking for large sums of money.
Since then, the police have located the suspect who is now assisting with investigations.
Scam alert
According to police statistics from January to June this year, scams revolving around the impersonation of Chinese officials are one of the top 10 types of scams in Singapore, with 225 reports of victims losing a total of 11 , 1 million dollars.
In today’s press release, the police also warned members of the public not to collect money from others on behalf of strangers, especially those who claim to be law enforcement officers.
These callers are very likely to be scammers, and those who act on their instructions may unknowingly commit a crime by helping to launder money from criminal activities.
For advice on scams, call the National Crime Prevention Council’s Scam Helpline at 1-800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
