$8.8m lost to scams involving impersonation of ICA officers, fake PR application assistance
The police and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) have alerted members of the public to two scams that they say have led to at least $8.8 million in losses.In a joint news release on Friday (Sept 25), the two Home Team agencies said the two distinct scam variants involve the impersonation of ICA officers, and fraudulent advertisements offering help with Singapore permanent resident (PR) applications.Victims of the first scam variant were said to have received unsolicited calls from persons claiming to be ICA officers, saying that their personal information had been misused or that their phone numbers were linked to criminal activities such as transmitting scam messages.According to the agencies, the calls would then be transferred to another scammer impersonating a China official.The "official" would then demand the victims hand over cash for investigation or bail.In some cases, victims were asked to meet up with unknown individuals to sign fake documents such as non-disclosure agreements.