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Four persons aged between 17 and 45 have been arrested by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) for their suspected involvement in three separate cases of China Officials Impersonation Scam (COIS).

The arrested suspects, comprising two women and two men, had been "groomed" by scammers to believe that they were carrying out an “official mission”, SPF said.

More than S$5 million lost

From March to April 2021, the police received several reports from victims who had fallen prey to the scam.

The scammers had allegedly informed the victims that their credit or debit cards had been used for fraudulent transactions, and/or their bank accounts were involved in money laundering activities.

The victims were then told to surrender their money for "investigations," with some giving the scammers control of their internet banking access.

A sum of more than S$5 million was lost by the victims.

Arrested suspects were "groomed" by scammers

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and seven police land divisions managed to establish the identities of the four suspects, who were arrested between April 15 to 29, 2021.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the four suspects had allegedly acted on the instructions of scammers to deliver purported “official investigation documents” to the victims.

The suspects would allegedly identify themselves with fake “China International Police” or “Interpol” passes when they met the victims.

Here are some of the case exhibits seized by the police:

These "groomed" suspects were also instructed by the scammers on what to wear and how to speak.

These actions were meant to convince the victims that they were genuinely being investigated.

Additionally, one of the arrested suspects had also relinquished control of her bank account to a scammer.

Investigations ongoing

The suspects are currently being investigated for the offences of cheating, using as genuine a forged document, and cheating by personation.

Those found guilty of cheating are liable to an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.

Using as genuine a forged document carries an imprisonment term of up to four years, a fine, or both.

Cheating by personation carries an imprisonment term of up to five years, or a fine, or both.

Scam prevention

The police emphasised that no government agency will request for transfer of money, personal details or bank account login credentials over the phone.

In such cases, one should ignore the caller’s instructions.

Never reveal your name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details, and One-Time-Password (OTP).

Furthermore, scammers may use caller ID spoofing technology to make it seem like a local number calling, when that may not be the case.

Members of the public who require scam-related advice can call the National Crime Prevention Council’s anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg.

Top photo via SPF, Roslan Rahman/Getty