We refer to Ms Yap Yong Xian's letter, "No way to recall funds after job scam" (Jan 24).
On Nov 26, the police received a report from Ms Yap that she was scammed after responding to a job advertisement via Telegram. Upon receiving the report, the police froze the bank accounts suspected to be involved in the scam.
Investigations into Ms Yap's case and related cases are ongoing.
Ms Yap asked about the role of the police in scam cases and the recovery of funds for victims.
The police adopt a multi-pronged approach to combat scams.
First, we have strengthened enforcement. The Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) was set up in June 2019 to disrupt scammers' operations and mitigate victims' losses.
Upon receipt of reports, the ASC works with local banks to freeze accounts suspected to be involved in the scams. However, it is difficult to recover money that has already been transferred to scammers, and even more so if it has been moved overseas.
Since 2019, the police have investigated more than 10,000 scammers, and bank account holders who relinquished their bank accounts to scammers or assisted scammers in conducting bank transfers.
The police also stepped up collaboration with foreign law enforcement agencies. Last year, nine transnational job scams were busted through joint operations with the Royal Malaysia Police and Hong Kong Police Force.
Second, the police partner various stakeholders to prevent scams. For example, we worked with the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and GovTech to develop and launch the ScamShield app in November 2020.
Third, the police actively promote public awareness of scams. We have issued numerous advisories to warn the public against scams, and worked with NCPC on campaigns.
The majority of scams are perpetrated by overseas scammers. Such cases are difficult to investigate and prosecute as these scammers typically run sophisticated transnational operations and hide behind the anonymity provided by the Internet.
Solving these cases also depends on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies, and their ability to track down the scammers in their jurisdiction.
A discerning public is the first line of defence against scams. We urge the public to always verify the authenticity of requests received.
Brenda Ong (Superintendent)
Assistant Director (Public Communications Division)
Public Affairs Department
Singapore Police Force