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Student scammed by ‘police officer from China’ into staging own kidnapping

SINGAPORE — A 15-year-old student here was made to stage his own kidnapping by a scammer claiming to be a “police officer from China”, resulting in his parents paying a ransom of 20,000 yuan (S$4,031) to secure his "release".

In a press statement on Monday, the Singapore Police Force said that preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager had received an unsolicited phone call purportedly from the scammer, who claimed that there was a “police warrant against him in China for money laundering offences”.

In a press statement on Monday, the Singapore Police Force said that preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager had received an unsolicited phone call purportedly from the scammer, who claimed that there was a “police warrant against him in China for money laundering offences”.

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SINGAPORE — A 15-year-old student here was made to stage his own kidnapping by a scammer claiming to be a “police officer from China”, resulting in his parents paying a ransom of 20,000 yuan (S$4,031) to secure his "release".

In a press statement on Monday (April 6), the Singapore Police Force said that preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager had received an unsolicited phone call purportedly from the scammer, who claimed that there was a “police warrant against him in China for money laundering offences”.

“To cancel the warrant, the teenager had to transfer monies to a bank account in China,” the police said.

However, as he did not have the money to make the payment, the scammer instructed the teenager to get his parents to pay through a “staged kidnap”, the police said.

He complied with the caller’s instructions and checked in to a hotel along Orchard Road on May 1. He was also told not to contact anyone and to take a photograph of himself being tied up.

The teen then sent the photograph to his parents in China, asking for the ransom to be paid to a Chinese bank account for his release, said the police.

Frightened, the teenager’s parents transferred the 20,000 yuan to the account and alerted his guardian as he could not be contacted.

Police officers later found the teen safe in the hotel room, the statement added.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE AN UNSOLICITED CALL

Members of the public are advised to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties, and to ignore their instructions.

No government agencies will give payment instructions through a phone call or messaging platform, or ask for information such as Internet banking passwords, said the police.

Details such as bank account usernames, passwords, and OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals, and should not be given out, added the statement.

Foreigners who have received calls from persons claiming to be from the police in their home countries should also call their embassies or high commissions to verify the claims of the caller, the police added.

To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg.

The police added that they take a serious view of any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and anyone found to be involved in scams will be subject to investigations.

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