7 arrested, $53m recovered in joint effort by Singapore, Timor Leste authorities and Interpol
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SINGAPORE - Seven persons have been arrested and over US$40 million (S$53 million) recovered following a multi-national, multi-agency effort between the Singapore Police Force, Timor-Leste authorities and Interpol. In a statement on Aug 3, the SPF said it wa7 arrested, $53m recovered in joint effort by Singapore, Timor Leste authorities and Interpol
SINGAPORE - Seven persons have been arrested and over US$40 million (S$53 million) recovered following a multi-national, multi-agency effort between the Singapore Police Force, Timor-Leste authorities and Interpol. In a statement on Aug 3, the SPF said it was the largest recovery in a case involving a business e-mail compromise scam. On July 15, an employee of a commodity firm in Singapore received an e-mail from a scammer posing as a supplier, asking him to transfer payment for some goods to a new bank account based in Timor-Leste. The employee did not realise that the 'i' in the supplier's original e-mail had been replaced with an «I». He transferred US$42.3 million to the scammer on July 19. He discovered the scam only after being informed by the firm's real supplier that it had not received the payment, said police. A police report was made on July 23. The SPF engaged Timor-Leste authorities and Interpol after receiving the police report. On July 24, the SPF's Anti-Scam Centre was alerted that a sum of US$39 million had been detected and frozen in the bank account maintained in Timor-Leste. Read more