SINGAPORE, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Singapore recorded over 100 cases of bank and government officer impersonation last month, with victims losing at least 6.7 million Singapore dollars (5.1 million U.S. dollars), an official statement said Thursday.
In such cases, victims received unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating officers from major banks or the government, according to a joint statement issued by Singapore police and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The scammers would accuse the victims of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering and ask them to transfer money to "safety accounts" to assist in investigations.
Victims would only realize that they had been scammed when the scammers become uncontactable or when seeking verification of the status of their cases with the banks or police.
The statement urged the public to add security features to bank accounts and check for scam signs with official sources to guard against scams. ■