S'pore woman, 37, gets scammed of S$16,000 in 1.5 hours after call by fake police officer

On Feb. 27, Lin (not her real name) received a call from a purported HSBC bank employee saying there had been suspicious transactions from her account.

The 37-year-old found this plausible as she had only recently closed an account with HSBC.

The "employee", however, had bad news: there had been suspicious transactions on her new credit card.

The only problem was that she had not applied for any new credit cards recently.

Lin told Lianhe Zaobao that the scammer had a local accent, spoke fluent English, and was able to recite her full name and identification number.

All of which led her to lower her guard when she was transferred to the subsequent fake authorities.

They then informed her that she was involved in a S$2 million money laundering case.

They also sent her many official-looking documents.

She was then subjected to pressure and fear tactics typical of this type of scam.

They raised the stakes with threats.

They said the investigation was highly confidential, with consequences such as prison time being floated if she revealed information to anyone.

They then suggested she send the money in her current account for a "priority financial check" to safeguard it.

Lin then transferred S$16,000, most of her savings, into the scammer's account.

When she realised this was a scam, Lin stopped the call and made a police report.

The Ministry of Law has an advisory against a similar type of scam to the one Lin encountered, with the only difference being the name of the officer.

You can read it here.

Here are the main points:

Responding to Mothership's queries, the police confirmed an investigation was ongoing.

Lin told Zaobao that she had called CIMB Singapore about the account she had transferred the money to.

She was asked to fill out a form.

They then purportedly took two weeks to get back to her and told her that the money was unrecoverable.

Lin called for a more robust mechanism from banks to deal with these types of scams.

In response to queries from Mothership, CIMB Singapore said they were unable to comment on information of specific individuals.

However, CIMB Singapore told Mothership that when a scam is reported, they act promptly to secure customers’ accounts and initiate recovery efforts, including working closely with various parties to investigate the matter.

The duration of this process varies depending on "several factors", including responses from beneficiary banks and the complexity of the case.

 "We remain committed to protecting our customers’ bank accounts and urge all consumers to stay vigilant against suspicious messages and requests. Scam proceeds are often moved rapidly across multiple accounts or withdrawn immediately, which makes recovery more complex. Together, we can ensure a robust and secure banking environment for all."

Image courtesy of Lin