Woman Loses $1.2m to Cop Impersonators

Scammers pretending to be from Anti-Scam Centre tricked her out of her life savings

- Claudia Tan

Scammers claiming to be officers from the police's Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) caused a woman to lose $1.2 million over the course of two months.

The ruse is a variant of the government impersonation scam.

The victim, who did not want her real name used, recounted her ordeal during an interview with the media on March 14 facilitated by the police.

She said it started with a phone call on Dec 11, 2024, from a person who identified herself as Jenny, an officer from ASC.

Jane (not her real name) was told that her identity card number was being misused, and she was urged to make a police report.

The woman, who is in her 50s and works in finance, said she was then transferred to another person who claimed over the phone that he was a police officer.

"Inspector Yang" sounded local, said Jane, who added that he sent her a one-time view image of a "police pass".

"He showed me his pass, which disappeared after I clicked on it.

"I was suspicious and thought he might not be a real police officer. But when I questioned him, he got angry and said: 'I have the right to suspect you."

The man told Jane that her identity card number was used to open a bank account, which then received money laundering funds.

He accused Jane of receiving a 10 per cent commission from the ill-gotten funds.

The man told Jane that she had to surrender her bank statements and update him on her whereabouts up to four times a day via WhatsApp.

He warned her not to tell anyone and claimed the case was confidential – a common tactic used by fraudsters to isolate victims from their loved ones.

Jane wanted to show she was cooperative and did everything he told her.

On Dec 13, she received a letter purportedly from the police saying she will be charged with laundering the proceeds of criminal activities.