SINGAPORE – At least $2 million has been lost to government official impersonation scams involving cryptocurrency in the first three months of 2025.
The police said on Aug 11 that the losses from January to March involved at least 19 reported cases.
In this scam variant, victims would receive unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating representatives from banks, insurance companies, payment institutions, airlines or telecommunications companies.
The conmen would claim that the victim had conducted banking or financial transactions or had outstanding premiums associated with a new or expiring insurance policy.
They may also claim that the victim had phone numbers or other registered personal banking information that were found to have been involved in fraudulent activities.
When victims deny involvement in such activities, they would be transferred to another scammer impersonating a government official from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Ministry of Law or the Chinese police, for example.
This scammer would accuse the victims of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.
Scammers would then ask victims to perform cryptocurrency transfers to a “safety account” for alleged investigation purposes.
The conmen would instruct victims to download cryptocurrency applications such as Coinbase, OKX or StraitsX, said the police in their statement.
The scammers would then ask victims to buy and transfer cryptocurrencies to a cryptocurrency wallet address. In some cases, the scammers would provide victims with specific e-mail addresses and passwords to set up accounts with.
Victims would realise they had been scammed only when the conmen become uncontactable or when victims seek verification from SPF.
The police urge the public not to transfer or give out valuables such as cryptocurrencies to people they do not know.
They added that government officials will not require the public to disclose personal information over phone calls, or ask them to transfer money. Government officials will also not transfer calls to the police or ask the public to install applications from unofficial app stores.
For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg