Singapore, Cambodia police and OCBC help S’pore firm recover US$12.8 million from scammers

SINGAPORE – A total of US$12.8 million (S$16.4 million) was recovered by the Singapore police, working with its Cambodian counterparts and OCBC Bank, after a company was duped into transferring the money to an overseas account.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a statement on Oct 29 that the Singapore-based petrochemical company had sent the money to a bank account in Cambodia on Oct 13 after receiving an authorisation letter with the company signature and stamp of its business partner.

The company first received an e-mail from the business partner’s address on Oct 1 with instructions directing payment to a new bank account, the police added.

Despite finding a discrepancy in the payment documents at first, the Singapore company sent the money later after receiving the authorisation letter, which was later determined to be fake.

The scam was discovered on Oct 26 after the business partner informed the company that it had failed to receive the payment, and the police was then alerted.

The full sum that was transferred was successfully traced and recovered, after the Singapore police engaged its Cambodian counterparts and coordinated recovery efforts with OCBC.

The police advised businesses to remain careful about falling for business e-mail compromise scams by verifying any new or sudden changes in payment instructions by directly contacting suppliers and business partners through trusted numbers, rather than relying solely on e-mail.

Employees should be educated on tactics used by scammers, and maintain strong passwords and multi-factor authentication systems, the police said.

For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799.

Businesses that have fallen victim to such scams, or have information related to such crimes, can contact the police at 1800-255-0000, or www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.