S$10,000 scam attempt foiled by Zhongguo Remittance
SINGAPORE: A local remittance company foiled a scam attempt involving S$10,000 on Wednesday (Aug 31) – at least the fifth such case it has helped to thwart.
In a news release on Thursday, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that an employee of Zhongguo Remittance, Xiao Qian Qin, alerted them to a suspected case of cheating. Officers then ascertained that a 25-year-old woman had been scammed into remitting $10,000… to an overseas account, the authorities said.
Investigations revealed that the victim received an automated message on Sunday, and was subsequently transferred to an operator claiming to be from SingPost. The operator accused the victim of sending a parcel containing illegal drugs and further referred her to another person who claimed to be from the Shanghai Police.
The victim was then told she was involved in money-laundering and would be arrested by authorities in Singapore if she did not report to the Shanghai Police office. She was then instructed to remit money to a specific bank account in China through several remittance companies.
Attending to the victim at the remittance company, Ms Xiao suspected something was amiss and informed her supervisor, who then notified the police. Her timely intervention meant that a sum amounting to S$10,000 was recovered, the authorities said.
“This case highlights the strong police-community partnership in crime fighting,” they said in the press release, adding that the police would like to commend Ms Xiao for “her timely intervention that helped in foiling the scam attempt”.
Zhongguo Remittance staff have intercepted at least four similar scam attemptssince July this year.
– CNA/mz
