Anti-Scam Centre and DBS Bank Intervene and Avoid Losses from Scammers Posing as MAS

In April, the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Scam Center (ASC) partnered with DBS Bank to stop a scam and successfully avoid a S$100,000 loss.

According to a police release, on April 9, the 64-year-old victim received a call from the bank, saying that there were unauthorized transactions on her credit card.

The victim denied making the transactions, and the caller told her to contact “staff” from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The scammer, who claimed to be a MAS officer, said that the victim was being investigated for money laundering and needed to present her banking credentials and transfer S$100,000 to a bank account, which would be returned to her once the investigation was completed, according to the promise.

The matter came to the attention of DBS' anti-scam team when the victim was about to make the transfer. As a result, the bank staff contacted her and asked about the reason for the transfer.

When the victim explained that she was cooperating with an investigation, the bank was quite sured that she was a scam victim. As the victim had already handed over her bank credentials to the fraudster, the staff reported the matter to the ASC.

Eventually, the transaction was stopped, and the victim managed to avoid a S$100,000 loss due to the timely intervention of DBS and the Singapore Police.

In this scam, the fraudsters posed as officers from the SPF and Singapore's financial regulator, MAS, and asked the victim to transfer money under the pretext of an “investigation”. This is a common type of scam and has caused serious losses to many victims, especially the elderly.

People in similar situations are advised to contact their banks and the police through official channels, and not to transfer money or provide sensitive information such as personal information and bank documents to strangers.