Seven were arrested and over US$40 million (about S$53 million) was recovered in a joint effort by the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Timor-Leste authorities and Interpol following an email scam, police said in an Aug. 3 release.

The scammer had posed as a "supplier" over email, and tricked a Singapore business into transferring funds to a fraudulent bank account in Timor-Leste.

Scammer posed as "supplier", asked for payments over email

Police said that the victim was a commodity firm based in Singapore.

On Jul. 15, their staff received an email from a "supplier” notifying him to transfer payment for some goods to a new bank account based in Timor-Leste.

However, the email address used differed from the actual suppliers' email, as an “i” was replaced with a "l".

Unaware of this, the staff transferred a sum of US$42.3 million (about S$56.1 million) to the "supplier" on Jul. 19.

These funds were directed to the fraudulent bank account maintained in Timor-Leste instead.

On Jul. 23, the staff realised the fraud after the real supplier told him that they had not received the payment.

The firm lodged a police report the same day.

International cooperation to recover stolen funds

Following the report, the SPF engaged Interpol and Timor-Leste authorities regarding the case.

On Jul. 24, ASC was notified that a sum of US$39 million (S$51.7 million) was detected and frozen in the Timor-Leste account.

The next day, Timor-Leste authorities said that several subjects were arrested, with US$2 million (S$2.6 million) recovered.

A total of seven suspects were arrested as a result of follow-up investigations.

Steps are being taken for the stolen funds to be returned to the victim in Singapore.

Scams a global threat that requires global response: SPF

SPF said in the release that it remains committed to working closely with international counterparts to combat cross-border criminal activities and uphold the integrity of the global financial system.

Director of the Commercial Affairs department, David Chew, thanked Interpol and Timor-Leste authorities for their assistance in the case.

Chew also noted that scams are a "global threat that requires a global response" from law enforcement.

"The successful recovery of more than US$40 million in this case stands as a testament to law enforcement’s ability to do this. This achievement underscores the invaluable crime-fighting role of cross-border partnership in safeguarding the global financial system. We make sure that the criminals and their money can run but they cannot hide from the long arm of the law," Chew said.

Top image from Singapore Police Force