SINGAPORE \u2013 More than US$6.6 million ($8.4 million) that a Singapore-based commodity trading firm lost to conmen in a business e-mail scam has been recovered, the police said. <\/p>\n
The police worked with HSBC Singapore, the United Arab Emirates Interior Ministry, the Dubai Anti-Fraud Centre and the Royal Oman Police.<\/p>\n
The police, in a statement on May 5, said a Singapore-based commodity trading firm lodged a report on April 30, after it was duped into transferring US$6.6 million to a fraudulent bank account in Oman.<\/p>\n
Two days earlier, the firm got an e-mail that appeared to be from one of its suppliers.<\/p>\n
However, the domain name of the e-mail was modified, with two letters moved around in such a way that it was virtually impossible to tell apart from the supplier\u2019s real e-mail address.<\/p>\n
Believing that the request was authentic, the firm\u2019s employees began the process of transferring the full payment amount to the phoney bank account on April 29, the police said. <\/p>\n
A day later, the firm\u2019s employees found that they had been scammed after the genuine supplier told them that they had not changed their bank account.<\/p>\n
The Singapore police\u2019s Anti-Scam Centre engaged the Dubai Police Anti-Fraud Centre \u2013 a Funds Recovery Operations and Networks Team (Frontier+) coalition member \u2013 to work with the Omani authorities.<\/p>\n
The funds were traced and fully recovered.<\/p>\n
Commercial Affairs Department director Peggy Pao said the successful operation underscores the key role of Frontier+, a coalition of Anti-Scam Centres.<\/p>\n
Frontier+ was set up in October 2024, and is made up of anti-scam agency representatives from 11 territories including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia. <\/p>\n
The police advised Singaporeans to enhance their IT security and re-engineer their payment processes to guard against business e-mail compromise scams.<\/p>\n
Businesses must verify any new or sudden changes in payment instructions by calling their supplier or counter-party on a trusted number that is independently verified, and never rely only on contact details given in the same e-mail chain, the police added.<\/p>\n
Employees also need to be educated \u2013 especially staff responsible for making payments on behalf of the company \u2013 on the tactics used by scammers in business e-mail compromise scams, the police said.<\/p>\n
Businesses need to maintain strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication and install e-mail protection software that can detect fraudulent or spoofed e-mails.<\/p>\n
Anyone who is not sure about transactions or payment instructions can call the ScamShield hotline on 1799 for advice.<\/p>\n
Businesses that have fallen prey to such scams or have information on them should call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg\/i-witness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n The police can be reached at 999 for urgent assistance.<\/p>\n