At least S$2.6 million lost to scammers impersonating MAS officers this year
The building exterior of the Monetary Authority of Singapore at Shenton Way. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday (Dec 21) warned of a scam variant involving the impersonation of MAS officers.
At least 41 people have fallen victim to the scam since January 2023, losing at least S$2.6 million (US$1.95 million) in total, SPF and MAS said in a joint news release.
The scam would usually start with victims receiving unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating bank officers, requesting verification of banking transactions that they allegedly conducted.
"When victims denied making such transactions or possessing such bank cards, the scammer would transfer the call to a second scammer claiming to be an officer from the MAS," said the authorities.
The second scammer would accuse victims of being involved in criminal activities like money laundering or fraud. Sometimes, a third scammer would be involved, pretending to be an SPF officer for "further investigation".
Under various pretexts like investigation, resetting the victim's credit card's magnetic stripe or processing a "government insurance policy", scammers would instruct victims to transfer money to "security accounts" that supposedly belonged to SPF, MAS or other authorities.
Scammers would also request for victim's banking credentials, credit card details, or one-time passwords.
"Victims would realise that they had been scammed when culprits become uncontactable or when they subsequently verified their situation with the banks or with SPF through official channels," said the authorities.
MAS and SPF said that their officers will never ask members of the public to transfer money or for the control of their bank accounts or internet banking credentials.
The authorities encouraged members of the public to use the new anti-scam features by DBS, OCBC and UOB to “lock up” a certain amount of funds from being transferred out digitally.
MAS had previously warned of scammers impersonating their staff in 2020.
Members of the public who suspect that they may be victims of such scams or have any information relating to such scams should call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit a report online.
