SINGAPORE: Police have commended staff from a moneychanger and a remittance company for their “timely interventions” in foiling a scam attempt involving S$25,000.
In a news release on Friday (Jul 8), police said Mr Malik Sameer, who works at Samlit Moneychanger, alerted them to a suspected case of cheating at about 3.05pm on Thursday. Officers from Central Division responded to the case and ascertained that the victim had been scammed into remitting S$25,000 to an overseas account.
Investigations revealed that last Saturday, the 59-year-old victim had received a phone call claiming she had a parcel with 28 credit cards under her name at “Changi Airport DHL”. She was directed to make withdrawals from the bank before proceeding to the moneychanger. Mr Malik, who attended to the victim, suspected something was amiss and alerted the police after the victim left.
Subsequently, the victim went to Zhongguo Remittance. A staff member there, Ms Li Chunyan, attended to her and also had her suspicions roused. Ms Li told her to wait while she went into her office to alert the police. However, the victim had left after completing the remittance transaction, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
The victim’s identity was soon established through the effort of officers from Central Division and the Commercial Affairs Department, SPF said. Police said that due to the quick intervention, the money was fully recovered and returned to her.