The regulator dropped a public alert after the number of impersonation scams involving government and banking officials practically doubled in 2024. 

It is no secret that Asia currently faces a digital fraud epidemic, something that finews.asia has amply documented in many instances this year.

Given that urgency, and the significant amounts of money individuals have been losing to fraudsters, it should come as little surprise that the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the city policy force have issued no less than four alerts this year on the subject, with the newest released on Friday.

Significant Money Lost

In it, both government bodies indicated there was a rise in impersonation scams involving faked banking sector and government officials.

Between January and October, they saw the number of cases rising to 1,100 and losses totaling S$120 million, far higher than the 680 cases and S$67 million lost a year earlier.

Double Pronged

A frequent variant sees victims receiving unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating bank officers, usually from DBS, OCBC, UOB or Standard Chartered, during which they indicate that a credit card has been issued in their name or that suspicious or fraudulent transactions were issued on their bank account.

If the victim denies having any such information, they are subsequently transferred to a second scammer who impersonates a government official from the MAS or the Singapore Police Force.

Video Calls

«These calls could at times be in the form of video calls, with the scammers dressed as SPF/MAS officers with fake badges, against a backdrop with the agency’s logo. In some instances, the scammers may provide fake warrant cards or fake official documents to lend credence to their deceit. The scammers would accuse the victim of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering and ask the victim to transfer monies to “safety accounts” designated by the government to assist in investigations» the MAS indicated.

Naturally, after all that, the clients are ghosted by the scammers, with the government taking the opportunity to again inform the public that banks would not transfer calls to any party outside their institution, including the police and government officials.