Beware of calls from ‘+65 999’, say police, warning of phone scam
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has once again taken to social media to warn the public against callers impersonating police officers.
SINGAPORE — The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has once again taken to social media to warn the public against callers impersonating police officers.
In an advisory on Facebook on Thursday (Aug 4), the police said some members of the public have received phone calls from the number “+65 999” on their mobile phones.
The SPF clarified that these calls were not made by police officers.
Recipients of such calls would first hear an automated voice message instructing them in Mandarin to enter a number, said the police. A Mandarin-speaking operator, claiming to be from the SPF would then ask for their personal information.
“Otherwise, they were told to proceed to the police station with their identification card or police officers would be despatched to their residence,” the police said in the advisory.
In the case of missed calls from “+65 999”, receivers would call back, only to be connected to the police emergency hotline at “999”.
Such tactics, said the police, are typical for scammers, whose use caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number.
The police also advised the public to take the following precautions when they receive calls from unknown origins: Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions.
Do not provide your name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details as such information is useful to criminals.
This is not the first time the police have warned against such scammers.
Last month, they also took to Facebook to warn the public against returning calls from unknown numbers starting with “999”. On July 27, a man was arrested and suspected of posing as a police officer to scam a woman out of S$32,000.
The public may call the police hotline at 1800 255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness should they have any related information. The “999” hotline should be used only if urgent police assistance is required.