Second scam attempt involving $50,000 foiled

SINGAPORE - A second scam involving $50,000 has been foiled by a remittance company, Samlit Moneychanger.

This is the second time the company has successfully detected a scam within the last two days, police said in a statement.

Mr Malik Sameer, an employee at the company, alerted the police to a suspected scam on July 8, 12.30pm.

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Police then found that a 69-year-old victim had been scammed into remitting $50,000 to an overseas account.

The victim had received a phone call on July 4, and had acted under the caller's instructions to make the transfer.

According to the police, the victim was told that she had a parcel containing illegal items sent under her name via DHL to Shanghai.

The call was then transferred to someone claiming to be a Custom officer, who threatened the victim with imprisonment if she did not comply with his instructions.

The caller then directed the victim to call him at specific timings.

On July 8, the victim was told to remit $50,000 to a specific China account if she wanted the authority to expedite the investigations.

Fortunately, one of the staff, Ms Novianthi Goh, grew suspicous after the victim failed to provide reasonable answers to general enquiries. Ms Goh observed that the victim appeared to be speaking to someone on her phone throughout the whole process, and seemed to be acting under instructions.

At that point, Mr Sameer called the police, while Ms Goh continued to probe the victim.

This is the third scam case which the police and two remittance companies have jointly foiled within the last two weeks, involving a total amount of $255,000.

Police advise members of the public to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties.

debwong@sph.com.sg