More than S$370,000 recovered after banks, Singapore and Hong Kong police foil scam
The 70-year-old victim divulged his bank credentials to a scammer after being told his computer had been hacked and his bank accounts were used for illegal activities.
A person using a laptop. (File photo: iStock)
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SINGAPORE: More than S$370,000 (US$271,000) have been recovered after the Singapore Police Force (SPF), together with two banks and the Hong Kong police, foiled a scam targeting a 70-year-old victim.
On Apr 18, DBS detected suspicious transactions of about S$180,000 transferred from the man's account to a bank account in Hong Kong, SPF said in a news release on Wednesday (May 1).
The bank immediately blocked further transactions from the victim’s account and notified SPF’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC).
ASC then "swiftly notified" Hong Kong's Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADDC) about the beneficiary account.
Officers were activated after the ASC could not contact the man, read the news release. The officers visited his residence but he was not at home.
"The ASC tried other means and managed to reach the victim’s family friend, who disclosed that S$240,000 was missing from the victim’s UOB bank account," said SPF.
The ASC "immediately worked with UOB to suspend the victim’s UOB bank account and traced the funds to a bank account in Hong Kong".
At the same time, the ASC worked with ADCC to successfully recover the full amount from the bank account in Hong Kong, SPF added.
THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT SCAM
The victim had been surfing the internet on his computer when a pop-up notification appeared, said SPF, adding that he was unable to close the notification.
The victim then called the number displayed on the pop-up notification that claimed to be a “Microsoft Helpline”.
After being told that his computer had been hacked and his bank accounts were being used for illegal activities, the victim was redirected to an “SPF cybercrime unit officer”.
Under the pretense of an “investigation”, the scammer obtained the victim’s bank account credentials, including his user ID and passwords. These were then used to transfer money out of the man's accounts.
"This swift coordination between DBS, UOB, ASC and ADCC led to more than S$380,000 recovered for the victim," said SPF.
What to do if you fall prey to a technical support scam
- Turn off your computer immediately to limit any further activities that scammers can perform.
- Uninstall any software that you have installed at the instructions of the scammers.
- Perform a full anti-virus scan on your computer and delete any malware detected.
- Report the incident to your bank to halt further activities relating to your bank account(s).
- Change your Internet banking credentials and remove any unauthorised payees who may have been added to your bank accounts.
- Report the incident to the police.
