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Police have arrested a 56-year-old Malay man and a 34-year-old Malay woman in relation to a series of impersonation scams.
Since 6 July 2011, Police have received at least eight reports where victims were cheated of between $2000/- and $4000/- each in cash. The victims were contacted over the phone with offers to assist them in claiming various government benefits such as income tax rebates, government workfare bonuses and baby bonuses. The victims were instructed to proceed to an ATM and follow the caller’s instructions. Upon reaching the ATM, the victims were provided with instructions to key in their transactions. Upon completing the transactions, the victims were told that they would be contacted again. When victims subsequently did not receive any calls, they made a check with their banks and realised that they were cheated and had transferred money to another account.
Upon receiving the reports, officers from Jurong Police Division immediately commenced investigations and managed to establish the identity of the culprits. In a Police operation, the male suspect was arrested along Bedok Reservoir Road yesterday (27 July 2011) at about 10.30pm. The female suspect was arrested in a follow-up operation today (28 July 2011) at about 2.40pm. Officers managed to recover bank books and ATM cards in relation to the cases.
The male suspect and the female suspect will be charged in court on 29 July 2011 and 30 July 2011 respectively for Cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine. A Court order will be sought to remand the suspects for further investigations.
Commander of Jurong Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Florence Chua commended the officers for their tenacity, excellent planning and strong teamwork leading to the arrest.
The Police would like to appeal to those who may have been scammed by the suspects to call Senior Investigation Officer Tan Kian Soon of Jurong Police Division at telephone number 6791-0000 to assist with investigations.
Police Advisory
- Call ‘999’ immediately to report the case;
- Do not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means to the caller; and
- Ignore such phone calls. For any welfare scheme or tax related matters, the authorities will provide notification via official letters. Government officials or personnel would not ask anyone to make any funds transfers through phone calls.
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