Singapore citizens should be on alert against a phone scam by callers impersonating Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers asking them to transfer money.
Through a press release, ICA said, “It has come to our attention that members of the public have received calls from ‘+65 6391 610’. The caller claimed to be an ICA officer and requested for funds, ranging from SGD900 to SGD20,000, to be transferred to rectify discrepancies in the personal information that they had provided to ICA.
Clarifying on the issue, it said, “The ICA would like to clarify that these calls were not made by ICA officers. ICA does not call members of the public to transfer money for such purpose. Police have since been alerted.”
Advising people to remain alert against such calls and take precautions, ICA said, “People should ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions and not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means to the caller.”
It also added, “ICA takes a serious view of such scam calls as it undermines public trust in ICA. Members of the public may call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness should they have related information, and dial ‘999’ only if urgent Police assistance is required.”