At least $2.6 million were lost by victims to scammers impersonating MAS, police officers over phone calls
Calls would involve up to three scammers, as victims are accused of crimes to get them to divulge banking and credit card details
SINGAPORE — Since January, a total of 41 victims have lost at least $2.6 million to scammers who pretended to be Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officers over phone calls.
The scammers allegedly claimed to be from, or acted on behalf of the finance-sector authority, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and MAS in a joint release on Thursday (21 December).
How the scams were conducted
The victims would first receive unsolicited calls from a scammer impersonating as a MAS bank officer. The scammer would request to verify banking transactions allegedly conducted by the victims.
Upon the victims' denial of such transactions or possession of bank cards, the scammer would transfer the call to a second scammer, who claimed to be an MAS officer. The second scammer would then accuse victims of their involvements in criminal activities such as money laundering and fraud. Victims may even be transferred to a third scammer, who pretended to be an SPF officer, for “further investigation”.
The scammers would then use different excuses like investigation, resetting credit card magnetic stripe, and processing of “government insurance policy” to get the victims to transfer money to so-called "security accounts", claiming these are authorised by SPF, MAS or other authorities. On other occasions, they asked for banking credentials, credit card details or One-Time Passwords (OTPs).
Victims would later realise they had been scammed when the culprits became uncontactable, or when they subsequently checked with the banks or police.
Warning and safety measures from authorities
MAS and SPF would like to remind that public that its officers would never ask the public to transfer monies, or for control over their bank accounts or internet banking credentials. Both authorities also warned that scammers may misuse the names of actual police officers to gain the trust of victims, and to remain alert to unsolicited messages or calls pretending to be from MAS or banks.
"Never disclose your internet/mobile banking or credit card details such as bank account user IDs, passwords, Personal Identification Numbers or OTPs to anyone through phone, email or SMS/messaging applications," MAS and SPF advised.
"Do not allow anyone to access your bank accounts or Singpass, and do not authorise any authentication request via digital token or OTP if you did not initiate any internet/mobile banking transaction."
The public is also encouraged to use the new feature introduced by DBS, OCBC and UOB banks to lock up their savings, and secure themselves against unauthorised digital transfers or payments.
Safety measures like downloading the ScamShield app, setting up security features by enabling two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication for banks, and setting transaction limits for internet banking transactions including PayNow, can be adopted.
The public can check for scam signs with official sources – like the Anti-Scam Helpline (1800-7226688), the Scam Alert website, and the ScamShield WhatsApp bot. Those who have any information on the scams can contact the police hotline (1800-2550000), or submit information on the I-Witness e-service. For urgent police assistance, they may also dial 999.
The police recently reported that at least 10 victims lost $9,000 to an IRAS impersonation email phishing scam.
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