PUBLISHED ONJuly 26, 2025 3:05 AMBYDrima ChakrabortyOCBC and the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) prevented a woman from being scammed out of $300,000.
A police news release stated that the incident took place last month, when the 64-year-old attempted to withdraw the funds from her account at OCBC Centre branch at Chulia Street "and provided inconsistent versions of withdrawal when queried by the attending bank staff".
Staff suspected that the woman had fallen victim to a scam when they noticed that she was seemingly receiving instructions on her phone, and escalated the case to the ASC.
The police unit managed to convince her at the bank that she had fallen prey to a government official impersonation scam.
She had been contacted by someone alleging to work for the Singapore Credit Bureau the previous day, notifying her that three bank loans had been approved under her name.
When she denied applying for loans, she was transferred to a "police officer" who claimed that she was a suspect in a money laundering case under investigation.
"The victim was under the impression that she was assisting with police investigations, and complied with the caller's instructions to transfer funds from her bank accounts as part of the investigation," the release added.
Despite the transfer of $300,000 being thwarted by OCBC and the ASC, the woman had already made five separate transactions from multiple banks over the two days, incurring a $475,000 loss.
Members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield helpline at 1799 for more information on scams.
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drimac@asiaone.com