"Criminal investigation" scams targeting foreign nationals (2017-2019)

The "criminal investigation" scams in Singapore coerce Chinese nationals to provide their bank details in order to prove their innocence. Photo from Pixabay.

Between 2017 to 2019, there were three disclosed cases of scammers targeting foreign nationals living and studying in Singapore. Posing as law enforcement officers or government officials, the scammers utilised caller-ID spoofing technology to imitate official government hotline numbers.

First incident (2017)

Details of scam

The first disclosed case was reported on 4 August 2017 in which the victim was a 31-year old female. The scammers had called her mobile phone, informing her that she was being investigated for money laundering. The scammers claimed to be police officers from a foreign country and expressed that they required her full cooperation in order to prove her innocence. She was then instructed to reveal her Internet banking details on a web link that had been provided by the scammers.

The victim only realised that she had been scammed when she was alerted to an unauthorised transaction of S$45,100 from her account to an unknown bank account.

Wang Wei-Ciang and Wang Wei-Ming who had been used as money mules by a scam syndicate. Photo from The Straits Times.

Further investigation and arrests

On 8 August 2017, the SPF’s Criminal Investigation Department successfully apprehended two men who were involved in the scam. They were identified as Wang Wei-Ciang and Wang Wei-Ming, both Taiwanese nationals who were unrelated despite sharing the same family name. The men were allegedly used as money mules by an international syndicate responsible for the police impersonation scam. They had been informed that their job scope included the collection and delivery of unspecified items.

Based on a statement from Wang Wei-Ciang, he was instructed to collect envelopes between 2 August 2017 and 8 August 2017. He collected the envelopes from various locations around Singapore, including Clementi Mall and Istana Park. He then passed the envelopes to Wang Wei-Ming at a toilet cubicle in Chinatown.

According to the official police investigation, Wang Wei-Ciang collected a total of S$254,800 in cash and Wang Wei-ming collected a total of S$663,250. They both faced the following charges and jail sentences:

Name	Charge	Sentence
Wang Wei-Ciang	One count of engaging in a conspiracy to deal with the benefits of criminal conduct	3-year jail term
Wang Wei-Ming	One count of engaging in a conspiracy to deal with the benefits of criminal conduct	3.5-year jail term

Second incident (2018)

The "Chinese officials" criminal investigation scams rank 7th in the SPF's list of Top 10 scams in Singapore as of February 2019. Table from The Straits Times.

Details of scam

The second disclosed case occurred on 11 June 2018 in which the target was a female Chinese national who was studying in Singapore. The scammers informed her that she was allegedly involved in a child smuggling case and requested that she withdrew all the money available in her bank account which totalled to S$22,010. Later on, she withdrew an additional S$4,800 to purchase cryptocurrency for the scammers. She was then told to provide personal information including details of her family in China.

The scammers instructed her to lay low and not contact anyone for a few days in the pretext of the ongoing “criminal investigation”. They then contacted her parents in China and told them that their daughter had been kidnapped. Although her parents did not remit any money to the kidnappers, they were reportedly very affected by the claim.

Singapore Police Force advisory

On 16 June 2018, the Singapore Police Force reported that there had been malicious phone calls being made by scammers to Chinese national students studying in Singapore in the past 2 days. They explained the modus operandi of the scam and issued the following advice should anyone be faced with such a scam:

• Ignore follow-up calls and the caller’s instructions.
• Verify the claims of the caller by contacting the relevant authorities such as embassies or the high commission.
• Do not give out your personal and bank details.
• Do not remit any money as instructed.
• Call a trusted friend or relative to discuss the matter, in order to avoid erring in judgement due to irrational decision making.

Third incident (2019)

The third disclosed case occurred on 1 May 2019 in which a 15-year old male Chinese National studying in Singapore was the target of the scam. The scammer informed the victim that he was wanted by the Chinese police for money laundering. The scammer’s alias was that of a police officer. The teen was then told that for his police warrant to be cancelled, he would have to transfer a fixed amount of money to a bank account in China.

The teen expressed that he had insufficient funds and was instructed by the scammers to stage his own kidnapping. He complied and checked into a hotel room at Orchard Road on 1 May 2019. At the hotel, he tied himself up and sent a picture to his parents in China asking for a ransom to be remitted to a Chinese bank account number in order to secure his release.

Upon seeing the text message, his parents transferred S$4,045 to the account number as instructed. They also contacted the teen’s guardian who was living in Singapore who immediately filed a police report. Officers were deployed to locate the teen who was found safe in the hotel room.

Singapore Police Force response

On 6 May 2019, the Singapore Police Force stated in a press release that the SPF’s Commercial Affairs department was working with their equivalent in China to further investigate the scam case.