Police would like to remind the public to be vigilant against phone scams involving the kidnap ruse as there was a case reported in April 2010 where a Chinese woman in her 50s had fallen victim to the scam and was cheated of S$3000/-.

Modus Operandi

The typical modus operandi employed by such culprits can be summarised as follows:

Over the Phone

i. The culprit would call the victim and claim that his / her loved one (usually son or daughter) had been kidnapped and demand that a ransom be paid ;

ii. These fake threats would usually be accompanied by sounds of cries for help in the background ;

iii. In some instances, the phone would be passed to an accomplice who might pose as the kidnap victim, crying for help ;

iv. The culprit would then ask the victim to pay the 'ransom' via remittance or bank transfer to secure the release of the victim's loved one;

v. In some cases, the culprit might arrange with the victim to handover or leave the 'ransom' at a designated location locally, usually near an MRT station or a park; and

vi. The culprit might also compel the victim not to hang up the phone so as not to allow the victim the opportunity to verify the well-being of his / her loved one.

Crime Prevention Advisory  

While the culprits have been unsuccessful for majority of the cases, members of public are advised to be vigilant against these scams and to adopt the following prevention measures:

i. Remain calm and contact your loved-one immediately on his / her handphone, at the workplace / school, friends who could be with him / her, etc, to confirm his / her safety. Should repeated attempts at contacting him / her fail, seek assistance from the Police immediately;

ii. Attempt to verify the authenticity of the caller's claim by asking him questions to verify the identity of the purportedly kidnapped victim, for instance, the number of family members staying together or whether there are pets in the house;

iii. Even if you have confirmed that your loved-one is safe, call the Police immediately at ‘999’ to report the case;

iv. Do not reveal your particulars to the culprits;

v. Do not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means to the culprits.

More details of other scam tactics and the relevant crime prevention advisories can be found at the Singapore Police Force website at www.spf.gov.sg or the Commercial Affairs Department website at www.cad.gov.sg.