just now some one call my hp,call me papa and crying he kena kinnapped.I ask him son song boh?he scold me CCB put down the phone.
I REFER to the letters from Ms Chua Chieu Yin last Tuesday ('Take action against phone scare scams') and Ms Ong Leng Mui in Forum Online last Wednesday ('Phone scare scams: What do police advise?').Since the proliferation of such phone scare scams in 2007, police have adopted a multi-pronged approach through education, enforcement and prevention. Apart from raising public awareness through various channels, police have also sought the assistance of banks and remittance agencies to identify and dissuade potential victims from making money transfers. So far, these institutions have been instrumental in helping police prevent people from falling prey to such scams.In fact, our community outreach efforts have forced criminals to change their tactics as it has become more difficult for them to get their victims to remit money to overseas accounts and operate abroad. Increasingly, the scammers instruct their victims to make cash transactions locally, usually by way of a designated drop-off point in secluded areas.With greater public awareness, many such cases are reported immediately, which allows police to arrest syndicate members when they try to retrieve the cash.Police have also been actively working with our foreign counterparts to curb such transnational crime. One fruitful example was our cooperation with the Hong Kong police, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of two people in Hong Kong recently for a lottery scam which involved a Singaporean victim.The key to reducing such crimes lies in public awareness and vigilance. Police will continue to raise awareness of common variations of such scams through the media, including posters, pamphlets, SMS advisories and the Internet. The community should play a part by making sure that family members and friends stay vigilant against such scams.If members of the public receive kidnap scam calls, they should remain calm and try to contact their next of kin immediately. They could also pose questions to the kidnapper to establish if the call is genuine. Should attempts to contact their loved ones fail, they should then contact the police. Members of the public should not reveal their particulars to the scammers or transfer any money to them.More details of other scam tactics and advisories can be found on the Singapore Police Force website at www.spf.gov.sg or the Commercial Affairs Department website at www.cad.gov.sg DSP Paul TayAssistant Director, Media RelationsSingapore Police Force
SPF Media Releases 26 Jan 2010 Bogus Law Enforcer Arrested Police have arrested a 45-year-old man yesterday evening who is believed to have committed several cases of theft by impersonating as a law enforcement officer.Since August 2009, Police have received several reports of theft committed by an unknown man who had claimed to be an officer from the Ministry of Manpower or the Singapore Police force. The suspect was known to target lone foreigners at MRT stations. Dressed in plainclothes, the suspect would usually flash a pass with a photo and identify himself as a law enforcer to the victims. He would then demand the victims to follow him to secluded spots where he would relieve them of their valuables on the pretext of searching their belongings. The suspect last struck on 17 January 2010 when he posed as a Police officer before making away with cash amounting to S$500 and Rp100,000 from a female Indonesian at Yishun MRT station.Following extensive enquiries and investigative follow-up, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division managed to establish the identity of the suspect. On 25 January 2010 at about 6.40 pm , the officers mounted an operation and arrested the suspect at Yishun Ring Road.The suspect will be charged in Court on 27 January 2010 for impersonating a public servant and theft under Section 170 and Section 379 of the Penal Code. If convicted, the suspect may be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.Commander of Ang Mo Kio Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Hsu Sin Yun, commended his officers for their good investigative work, perseverance and resourcefulness in tracking down the suspect. He also would like to take this opportunity to advise members of the public to be wary of such conmen and to adopt the following crime prevention measure: * Always verify the identification of persons claiming to be representative of government agencies by calling the organizations or asking for their identification passes. If in doubt, contact the Police immediately
SINGAPORE - Phone kidnap scams, which first surfaced here in 2007, have spiked sharply in recent years.According to the police, the number of such scams - where victims receive calls from strangers demanding ransom for their next-of-kin or friend - being successfully pulled off jumped from 3 cases in the first five months of last year, to 25 cases in the same period this year.Correspondingly, the total amount of money taken from the victims increased five-fold, from S$24,000 to S$133,000.Between January and May, the police received a total of 307 reports from the public about such scams.The rise could be linked to the growing popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook.Said a police spokesman: "Members of the public should be careful in sharing personal information about themselves and their loved ones, especially on social media websites where their information can be easily gleaned by scammers."The police are working with banks and remittance centres, schools and crime prevention ambassadors to help educate the public.It has circulated to banks and remittance centres a checklist which includes looking out for customers who may seem stressed when withdrawing and sending money and to warn them of such scams.Singapore is not the only country hit by such scams, with incidents reported in Africa, the Philippines, the United States and China.Last February, the police in China arrested 17 suspects in Shenzhen as part of a major dragnet targeted at phone kidnap scams.In Singapore, the modus operandi involves conmen calling their victims at home via private or unknown numbers.They then ask for the victims' mobile phone numbers and then call them on their number.Typically, the conmen instruct the victims not to hang up until the "ransom money" has been transferred to their account.After the money has been paid, the conmen instruct victims to go to another location to wait while the conman checks that the money is transferred, or to fetch the "hostage".VICTIMS RECOUNT ORDEALOne of the victims, sales manager Susan Tan, 50, recalled her three-hour ordeal in December last year when she picked up her home phone and heard a shriek: "Mummy, save me! Someone is beating me and I am bleeding profusely!"Madam Tan said a man came on the line and claimed that her son was in his hands and he would kill him if she did not cooperate.The man hung up abruptly after Mdm Tan gave him her mobile phone number. He called her mobile phone almost immediately.Mdm Tan told Today: "He told me to not to call the police and not to tell anyone."He kept saying if I did not listen to his instructions and if I hung up, he would harm my son."The man demanded S$30,000 in ransom and when she said she did not have that much money, he asked her how much she had."I told him I only had S$10,000."The man then asked her where the nearest bank was to where she lives and instructed her to go to the bank to withdraw the money.He gave her a Chinese name, the bank and account number to remit the money to. Mdm Tan did as she was told."When I was at the bank, the bank teller actually asked me where I was remitting the money to. When I told her to a relative in Guangzhou, China, she told me to be careful as there were several scams reported. I don't know why I still transferred the money. I was just so afraid that he will harm my son," she said.After she sent the money, she told the man that she wanted to hear her son's voice. After hearing a voice that did not sound like her son's, Mdm Tan feared the worst and cried, she recalled.It was only then that she called her 21-year-old son - who was studying in the United Kingdom - to find him alive and well."I feel so ashamed and haven't told anyone, not even my husband. I was just so frightened and helpless," said Mdm Tan.Another victim, administrative assistant Christina Lim, 48, received a call in her office. She was told that her 16-year-old son had been kidnapped.She was then asked to go to a remittance house at Pearl's Centre in Chinatown.After transferring S$2,000, Mdm Lim was asked by the caller to go to a HDB block in Toa Payoh to wait for her son. She was also instructed to tear and throw away the remittance docket.Mdm Lim told Today that she was so frightened that she refused to pick up any call - including calls from her colleagues and husband who were worried about her after she left office abruptly. After half an hour spent waiting in vain, she finally picked up a call from her husband who told her that their son was safe and sound.Said Mdm Lim: "I was in a daze. I left my office just like that and even met my sister to take the money from her. She too, was so frightened that she did not call the police."What you should do if you get a "kidnap" callby SOURCE: Singapore Police Force website- Remain calm and contact your loved-one immediately to confirm his safety. Should repeated attempts at contacting him fail, seek assistance from the police immediately.- Attempt to verify the authenticity of the caller's claim by asking him questions to verify the identity of the purportedly kidnapped victim, for instance, the number of family members staying together or whether there are pets in the house.- Even if you have confirmed that your loved-one is safe, call the police immediately at 999 to report the case.- Do not reveal your particulars to the caller.- Do not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means to the caller.http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110801-0000023/More-fall-victim-to-phone-kidnap-scams
Police have asked members of the public not to fall for scams where they can be asked to make bank transfer payments for persons they have met only on the Internet.The caution comes after at least three such recent cases.In the first case in September 21 this year, a woman who went to Changi Airport to meet a male foreigner she had befriended on a dating service, received a call from someone claiming to be an immigration officer, asking her to make a bank transfer of S$13,800 for that friend whom he said had been detained.The woman did not make that transfer but reported the case to police.Two other similar cases took place on the 17th and 22nd of this month.In one of these cases, the victim fell for the ruse and transferred S$3,500 to a bank account.The cases have been classified as cheating and those found guilty may be jailed up to 10 years and fined.Police remind members of the public that authorities here do not require any bank transfer of money for bail or fine.They also said that they noticed that culprits spend months building rapport online before asking for money.Police asked that people take extra caution in befriending strangers on the Internet and to consider that they really do not know anyone just from their communications over the Internet.
Author
Topic: [Scam] Phone scams, "Supreme Court", "Police", "Kidnapped" ***Caution! (Read 4778 times)
