Police and Standard Chartered prevent victim from losing $500k
The police's Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) partnered with Standard Chartered in August to thwart a government official impersonation scam, preventing a $500,000 loss.
The bank's swift detection of suspicious transactions and immediate engagement with the victim were instrumental in foiling the scam, the police said in a statement.
The victim, a 75-year-old woman, received a call from a scammer claiming to be a Standard Chartered employee.
The scammer informed her of unauthorised transactions on her credit card and referred her to an alleged "officer" from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The scammer convinced the victim that her credit card had been compromised and required a payment to fix the magnetic strip.
Over several days, the scammer persuaded the victim to sell off her investment funds and transfer over $213,000 to various bank accounts.
The scammer then requested the victim to sell off investments worth $500,000 to complete the "repair" process.
However, a Standard Chartered relationship manager noticed the victim's unusual banking activity and suspected a scam.
He promptly escalated the case to the bank's anti-fraud team, which placed account restrictions and contacted the ASC for assistance.
The ASC worked with Standard Chartered to alert the victim and expose the scam.
By highlighting the red flags in the case, the ASC convinced the victim that she had fallen prey to a government official impersonation scam.
The timely intervention prevented the loss of $500,000.
This incident underscores the importance of vigilance and the collaborative efforts between financial institutions and anti-scam agencies in combating such fraudulent activities.
For more information on scams, the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or contact the Anti-Scam Hotline on 1800-722-6688.
To report scam-related information, individuals can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit details online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness, with the assurance of confidentiality.
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