SINGAPORE – A letter bearing the letterhead of the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the signature of one of its senior officers is fake, the organisation said on Wednesday.
The forged letter accused the recipient of suspected money laundering and ordered him to pay a fee “for justice” to a third-party bank account.
In a media statement, the AGC said it does not ask members of the public to transfer money to third-party accounts.
It also noted that the letter contained several typographical and grammatical errors, which are tell-tale signs that a document is fake.
The letter had been sent to a member of the public residing overseas and the bogus fee was sought in Indonesian rupiah.
AGC added: “Members of the public are advised to remain vigilant against such scams and not provide personal information such as one’s name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details to suspicious or unknown parties.”
According to figures unveiled at the Global Anti-Scam Summit in Lisbon last week, Singaporean scam victims lose the most money on average in the world. Local victims are on average duped of US$4,031 (S$5,517) each.
Phishing scams – in which scammers impersonate officials or trusted entities to trick victims into disclosing their bank details – were also the most common hoax in 2022, said the Singapore Police Force when it released local scam figures in February.
