2 Women Arrested Over China Official Scam, Face Up To $500,000 Fine

19- And 30-Year-Old Woman Arrested For China Official Scam In July

Last week, a Bedok resident was allegedly scammed of $500,000 after he was visited by a lady pretending to be a China official.

On Thursday (29 Oct), the police said that they had 2 women suspected of being involved in a similar case earlier this year. In this case, the scammers allegedly asked the victim to hand over S$1 million.

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Victim receives call from scammer claiming to be China official

According to a press statement seen on Yahoo! News, a 19- and 30-year-old woman were arrested for impersonating as China officials and scamming over S$1 million in July.

Prior to the visit, a female victim had reportedly received phone calls from an unknown party claiming to be from the Chinese authorities.

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The victim was then led into thinking that she had committed a serious crime and was subsequently instructed to hand over S$1 million to a woman.

Suspect faces up to $500,000 fine and 10 years’ jail

One day in July, the victim gave an undisclosed sum of money to the 19-year-old who then passed it on to her older counterpart, reports Yahoo! News.

Though investigations are still ongoing against the 19-year-old, the older suspect would be charged in court on Friday (30 Oct).

She faces a fine of up to $500,000, a jail term of up to 10 years, or both if found guilty of her offence, which falls under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.

The police also urged members of the public to not collect money on behalf of strangers, especially if they claim to be from law enforcement agencies.

Those who commit acts based on their instructions may unknowingly have committed a crime, by helping to “launder money from criminal activities”.

Hope public would be wary to avoid falling for such scams

The ‘mechanics’ of the case in question appears to be largely similar to the recent one that we learned about.

It’s troubling to hear that scammers are coming up with such cunning tactics to fool their victims into handing over their hard-earned money.

We hope members of the public would be careful in order to not fall prey to such scams.

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Featured image adapted from RedChilli21.