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GULLIBLE Singaporeans were conned of over $300,000 in telephone scams over the past four months.
Police said 29 victims were scammed by people claiming to be police officers or Supreme Court staff. These victims lost a total of $275,500.
Another two were cheated of more than $50,000 after they were tricked into believing that their relatives have been kidnapped.
In a press statement on Saturday, police said the impersonation scam first came to light in September and as of Dec 6, 224 cases have been reported.
The conmen pose as police and court officers and accuse their victims of being involved in criminal acts or failing to attend court.
To avoid punishment, victims are told to transfer money to the officer's bank account.
The bulk of the people smelled a rat and called the police. In one failed scam in October, a 42-year-old salesman received a call from a man who said he was a 'CID officer'.
The caller accused the salesman of being involved in an international money-laundering syndicate.
He was told to transfer all his money to the 'High Court's account' because his personal bank account will be seized by police. The suspicious salesman hung up and called the police.
Police said that although they do call people to inform them of court dates or appointments at the police station, their officers will never ask for money to be deposited into a bank account.
Read the full report in The Sunday Times.
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