4 money mules arrested in island-wide blitz
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AsiaOne
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013
SINGAPORE - Two men and two women, aged between 18 and 34, have been arrested for suspected involvement as money mules in an ongoing mixed delivery order scam.
They were apprehended by officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division after a five-hour island-wide operation on Sep 23.
The suspects posted online advertisements for the sale of below market price smartphones, tablet PCs and laptops on popular websites.
According to the police, after receiving payments from their victims, they requested for additional payment by giving the following reasons:
1. Items were held or wrongly delivered to another country - an additional payment is required to retrieve the item(s).
2. Items were seized at the Customs - an additional payment is required for storage fees, and victims receive the purported "seizure notice" in the email for added credibility.
3. Items faced courier/shipment problems faced - there was a mix-up with other items from a different order. As the delivery could not be cancelled (one-way delivery), victims need to pay for the cost of additional items. Alternatively, victims are offered the option to return the additional items back to source, but need to pay an additional refundable guarantee fee.
4. Items included in the package required minimum quantity / package was too light - the despatch manager could not authorise shipment as it did not meet the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), thus requesting victim to put in more orders and make subsequent payments.
The suspects recruited 'money mules' on social network platforms for the scam to avoid detection. They had local bank accounts and helped to transfer the money to the suspects. These money mules would later receive a percentage commission from the funds remitted.
According to a statement from the police, the bank account holder would also be asked to purchase a pre-paid SIM card and activate a Whatsapp account for his online friend (the suspect) to use. This local mobile phone number would then be used in the online advertisements for the purported sale of the electronic gadgets.
The four suspects are currently being investigated for Dishonestly Receiving Stolen Property.
If found guilty, they will face a jail term up to five years, a fine, or both.
The police advise members of the public to adopt the following measure to avoid such scams:
1. Do business with those you know and trust.
2. Understand the offer.
3. Never give your bank account numbers, credit card numbers and personal information to anyone you don't know or have not checked out.
4. Check out the track record of the company/seller.
5. Know that the people in cyberspace may not be what they seem.
6. Do not help others you have met online to make funds transfers or assist in making remittances of unknown sources of money.
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