Recently, fraud cases of counterfeiting Ministry of the Interior officials have occurred in the local area, and the police urged the public to be vigilant.

The Singapore Police Force issued a statement on Thursday (March 13) saying that since March, the police have received at least a case of fraud gangs impersonating officials from the Ministry of the Interior Cybersecurity and Information Communication Technology Management Department (CIGD). Some public accidentally fell into a scam and lost more than 5,000 yuan.

The statement pointed out that the victim would receive a call from the local number without a +65 display. The caller claimed to be from CIGD and informed the victim that his personal data had been used for criminal activities in Malaysia. In some cases, the phone will also be forwarded to another fraudster who claims to be from Malaysian law enforcement agencies such as the “Interpol of Malaysia” or the “Criminal Investigation Agency”. Scam gangs will attempt to obtain the victim’s personal information, including bank account details, personal information, SingPass password or a one-time password (OTP) with two-factor authentication (2FA), or require the victim to transfer money to a designated bank account to “assist the investigation.”

Police stressed that CIGD officials will not contact the public on their own initiative. Do not provide any personal information or transfer funds once you receive a call from a self-proclaimed CIGD official. If you have any questions, you can go to the ScamShield website or call the anti-fraud hotline 1799 to verify.

In addition, the authorities also reminded the public that foreign law enforcement agencies have no right to conduct investigations in Singapore, nor do they have the right to instruct Chinese residents to assist in the investigation.

Further reading

Prime Minister Huang urges the public not to be deceived

Prime Minister Huang urges the public not to be deceived

The boss's wife was transferred to more than one million yuan when she received a fraudulent call.

The boss's wife was transferred to more than one million yuan when she received a fraudulent call.

Police also said neither foreign law enforcement agencies nor Singaporean government officials would require public transfers via phone or text messages, provide personal information, click on any third-party links or download programs from third-party websites.