Scammers impersonate a police officer or father to extort money
Joanna Seow
The Straits Times
Thursday, Aug 01, 2013
SINGAPORE - Police are advising the public to be wary of an extortion scam in which people impersonating a police officer and a father over the phone get male victims to transfer money to a bank account.
Get the full story from The Straits Times.
Here is the full press release from the Police:
Police have seen a number of scam cases involving persons impersonating a police officer or father who worked together to extort money over the phone from male victims. In the cases reported, the male victim had responded to an online advertisement on one of several websites featuring a scantily clad female offering massage or escort services.
The male victim would exchange several SMS with the handphone number shown on the advertisement enquiring on the services offered, thinking he was communicating with the female person featured. Sometime later, a person claiming to be the female’s “father” would call the victim to voice his displeasure that his “daughter” was under-aged and threatened to lodge a police report.
Following this, the victim received another call, this time from a person purportedly claiming to be a police investigator. This person would tell the victim that a police report had been lodged and action would be taken against him if the matter was not settled amicably.
The “father” would then call the victim back and tell the victim that he would cancel the police report if he received some form of monetary compensation or payment from the victim. Out of fear, the victim would then transfer the money to the “father” to a given bank account.
Several persons believed to be involved in the scam have been arrested to assist in police investigations.
Members of public are advised to take the following preventive measures when responding to online advertisements:
•Be wary of messages or calls from unknown people.
•If anyone attempts to extort money from you or should you become a victim of such an attempt, call the police immediately.
•Do not remit or transfer money.
