Woman loses S$1.2 million to police impersonation scam

A woman in her 50s, known as "Jane", lost S$1.2 million to a scam that lasted over a month. The scammers posed as police officers and convinced her she was involved in money laundering. Jane believed she was helping law enforcement to prove her innocence. The scam began when she received a call from someone claiming to be from the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Centre. The woman, who named herself "Jenny Koo", told Jane her identity was linked to a scam involving a SIM card. After being connected to a so-called Inspector Yang, Jane was told she needed to cooperate with an investigation to clear her name. Jane was initially skeptical but was manipulated into trusting the scammers through a series of convincing interactions. She withdrew large sums of money from her accounts and transferred it to the fraudsters, believing she was helping to catch criminals. The scammers used various tactics, including false documentation and encouraging her to ignore legitimate police calls. Throughout the scam, Jane was dealing with personal stress, including a family bereavement. She felt overwhelmed and complied with the scammers' demands. Over the course of more than a month, she handed over a total of S$1.2 million across multiple transactions, including cash payments in person. After the scammers stopped communicating with her, Jane realized she might have been tricked. She reported the incident to the police and expressed regret over her actions. Despite her loss, her family supported her, emphasizing that her safety was more important than the money. Jane has since made peace with the situation and offers advice to others on how to avoid similar scams. In response to rising scams, Singapore has introduced new laws to help protect potential victims. Jane believes these measures could help prevent others from being victimized in the future.