'ICA' phone scams on the rise: Police

'ICA' phone scams on the rise: Police

SINGAPORE - Police have released an advisory warning of phone scams involving persons claiming to be officers from Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA).

According to a statement on Tuesday, police have received several reports of such cases.

The scammers would call the victims using a phone number similar to the ICA hotline (6391 6100) and inform them that there was an error in their personal particulars.

They were then told to transfer cash as they were liable for a fine for providing incorrect information. As of October 2013, 63 cases have been reported, of which 26 victims were cheated a total of over $40,000.

This is compared with 49 of such cases reported in early May this year.

ICA has clarified that such calls are not authentic. ICA does not call up members of public to pay a fine.

Members of public are reminded to be wary of such phone calls and adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- Call the Police immediately at '999' to report the case.
- Ignore such calls; and
- Do not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means to the caller

Anyone who has any information related to this crime, are advised to call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or '999' for urgent police assistance.

candicec@sph.com.sg

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.