SINGAPORE: The police issued an advisory on Saturday (Jun 16) over a recent spate of kidnap scams, after receiving at least three such reports over two days from the parents and guardians of Chinese national students in Singapore.
The police said that in such kidnap scams, the students were conned into giving money and providing details of their families in China to people claiming to be government officials, who would then use the information provided to contact the victim's parents and claim that their child had been kidnapped.
AdvertisementThe modus operandi of such scams, the police said, would see the victims receive unsolicited calls from strangers claiming to be government officials. These calls usually employ caller-ID spoofing technology and may look like they are from official government hotline numbers such as “110” or “999”.
During the call, the victims would be informed that they had committed criminal offences and were required to assist in investigations to prove that the money they owned was legitimate.
They were asked to do any of the following: Withdraw their money and pass it to strangers or transfer the money via cryptocurrency cash deposit machine or to another bank account; update their whereabouts to the scammers over the next few days, change their SIM cards and log out from social media; and provide details on their families in China.
Subsequently, the scammers would contact the victim's overseas-based parents and inform that their child had been kidnapped and demand ransom.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn one of the reported cases, the police said, a female Chinese national studying in Singapore was cheated of nearly S$27,000 by scammers.
She received a call on Jun 11 from someone claiming to be a Chinese government official. The scammer told her that she was involved in a child smuggling case and that her assistance was required in their criminal investigation.
Acting on the scammer’s instructions, the victim withdrew S$22,010 from her bank account and handed it over to an unknown man. She also withdrew another S$4,800 to purchase cryptocurrencies for the scammers.
Subsequently, the victim was instructed to provide her personal information, including details of her family in China, to them. She was also instructed not to contact anyone in the days that followed.
The scammers then contacted her parents to claim that their daughter had been kidnapped by them in Singapore.
"Even though there was no monetary loss suffered by the victim’s parents, the scammers have managed to instil fear and helplessness into them," the police said.
"Police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Anyone found to be involved in such scams will be subjected to police investigations," they added.
The police have also advised members to be careful when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties, and to call the police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or dial 999 for urgent police assistance.
"No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook); or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords," the police said.
They added that foreigners who receive calls from people claiming to be from the police in their home country should call the embassy or high commission to verify the legitimacy of the call.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg
Under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, any person convicted of knowingly assisting in dealing with monies derived from criminal conduct may be fined up to S$500,000 or jailed a maximum of 10 years, or both.
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