Afraid of being arrested for money laundering, woman gives S$37,000 to ‘Interpol officer’ from China

SINGAPORE — For weeks, whenever Madam Tan (not her real name) left her home, she would report her whereabouts via WhatsApp to a man she had never met.

As far as she knew, he was an Interpol officer from China investigating a money laundering scheme that involved the use of her credit card.

And when the “officer” told her to withdraw more than S$37,000 and hand it over to someone, she duly complied.

Mdm Tan was just another victim of what is known as Chinese officials impersonation scams, the Singapore Police Force said at a briefing on scams on Monday (Feb 3).

Overall, there were 9,502 cases of money scams last year, an increase of 53.5 per cent from 2018, despite the police ramping up efforts to educate Singaporeans.

In Mdm Tan’s case, she had no reason not to believe the “officer”. After all, he had sent her photos of a “warrant” for her arrest and of his “police ID”.

Besides, Mdm Tan knew that scammers typically use foreign phone numbers, but this man’s call came from a Singapore number.

He had called her sometime in November last year, telling her that her credit card had been used for money laundering. He assured Mdm Tan that he would help her, provided she followed his instructions.

In January 2020, the “officer” told Mdm Tan that someone had transferred money into her account. He instructed her to withdraw more than S$37,000, and to hand over this amount to another person in Clementi.

The “officer” assured her that the sum would be returned on the same day, but she did not get her money back. Realising that she had been conned, Mdm Tan filed a police report on Jan 13.

Ms Carolyn Misir, principal psychologist at the Police Psychological Services Division, said that a key reason many people fall victim to scams is that they do not believe it could ever happen to them.

Those who execute Chinese officials impersonation scams slightly prefer to hit those in their 20s and 30s, because they usually need their victims to have banking tokens and some level of online financial literacy in order to pull off their deceptive schemes, Ms Misir added.

“Your usual guy who is about 60 or so is not online all the time, doesn’t do these sort of transactions on the internet and is not so likely to be targeted, although all age groups are still targeted,” she said.

THE SCAM PROCESS

For Chinese officials impersonation scams, the schemer pick their targets by sending out automated voice calls in Chinese to thousands of people, claiming to be from a government agency and instructing people to press a number on their phones. Whoever does so is seen by the schemer as a vulnerable person.

This is the first red flag that Singaporeans should watch out for, as Singapore government institutions rarely conduct automated calls in Chinese, Ms Misir said.

Then, the scammers would personally call their victims and pretend to be officials from China.

They would issue threats, saying things such as the victim was implicated in a crime and could be imprisoned or have their permanent resident status cancelled if they do not follow the caller’s instructions.

“The victims are always asked to prove their innocence. (A scammer) will say, if you really want to prove your innocence, give me your bank account number, tell me where you are for a few days,” Ms Misir said.

Scammers will then deploy different persuasion techniques to convince their victims to reveal sensitive information, such as bank account numbers and one-time passwords (OTPs), Ms Misir said.

Some of them refer victims to fake websites that display false warrants of arrest and their particulars.

In one case, a fake website showed a passport photo of a victim that was taken only two to three weeks before, prompting the victim to believe that it was authentic.

HOW FAMILY MEMBERS CAN HELP

In some instances, the scammers even managed to fool victims into believing that the police were the fraudsters.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Teng Chin Hock, an officer from the Anti-Scam Centre, pointed to a case where a wealthy 80-year-old woman withdrew S$2.3 million from her bank accounts.

Bank employees grew suspicious of the transactions and alerted the police. However, the woman refused to speak with the police officers when they arrived at her house to warn her.

She even lied to the police that the money was meant for a “younger lover”, when it was really for a “Chinese official”.

Later, the officers discovered that the scam caller had told the woman not to interact with the Singapore police, claiming that they would try to take her money for themselves.

It was only after the police convinced the victim’s son to speak with her that she realised she was being duped, ASP Teng said.

He said that family members can look out for one another and take note if their loved ones seem engaged in peculiar activities, such as visiting the bank frequently or making calls to unknown individuals.

ANOTHER TYPE OF IMPERSONATION SCAM

Another type of scam involves someone impersonating a victim’s friend on social media.

On Jan 14, Tom (not his real name), a 22-year-old chef, got an Instagram message from someone he thought was his female friend.

This friend told him that he could win S$1,000 in a “Lazada campaign”, and that he would receive two OTPs on his mobile phone, which he needed to send to her, along with a photo of his credit card.

Tom did as he was told, but later discovered that S$400 had been withdrawn from his bank account.

When he contacted his friend via WhatsApp, he found out that he had been messaging a fake account, which had an Instagram handle with one letter different from his friend’s.

ASP Teng said that only 35 per cent of all reported scam victims’ losses has been recovered since the Anti-Scam Centre was launched in June 2018.

Mdm Tan is among those who have yet to get their money back. She said that she did not tell any of her family members about her ordeal.

“I did not want them to look down on me, or think I was stupid,” she said in Mandarin.