SINGAPORE – Just as the bank was about to close for the day, a woman in her 70s rushed in, frantically asking for help to withdraw $40,000 in cash from her savings account.
Seeing this was almost all of her life savings, Ms Karen Teo, a bank officer at DBS’ South Bridge Road branch, asked the woman what it was for.
On Oct 16, Ms Teo said: “The customer claimed the money was for her son’s renovation. She kept telling me, ‘Quickly get the money. Someone is waiting for me.’”
Seeing how frazzled she was, Ms Teo offered to call her son to confirm that the money would be used for renovating his home.
That was when the woman’s story kept changing, which told Ms Teo that she was dealing with a scam victim.
First, the woman said her son was overseas and would not answer the phone.
Then, she said it was actually her godson she was helping.
A while later, she claimed that it was a boy at a temple who needed the money.
Ms Teo called her supervisor, Ms Low Bee Peng, and they spent more than an hour convincing the woman that she was being scammed. She decided not to withdraw any money. It was after 5pm, more than an hour after the bank had closed.
Ms Low said: “She later admitted she had received a call claiming she had bought an insurance policy. The ‘insurance agent’ then connected her to a man posing as a government official, who sent her a photo of a court order threatening that her assets would be seized if she did not do as she was told.”
The grammatically poor phrase “for office use only” in big, bold letters proved it was a fake court order.
Ms Teo said: “When she realised she had fallen for a scam, she looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It’s not just about preventing a scam; it’s about protecting someone’s life savings.”
Despite emerging only in 2025,
insurance services scams ranked seventh among the top 10 scams of concern
in the first half of the year. More than $21 million was lost, with 791 cases reported, the police said in August when
releasing the mid-year scam figures
.
The average amount lost in each case during this period was about $27,000, and around three in 10 victims were aged 65 or older.
Income Insurance said it saw more of such reports from its customers in the first half of 2025 than in recent months.
Scammers posing as its representatives or employees often claim that victims have outstanding premiums tied to their new or expiring life insurance policies, said the spokesman.
They are then redirected to other scammers and asked to reveal their bank account details to cancel their insurance policies if they want to avoid being charged outstanding fees.
Some victims are redirected to scammers impersonating government officials, claiming that their bank accounts were linked to money laundering activities.
The Income spokesman added: “They are then instructed to help with the ‘investigation’ by transferring money to a specified ‘safe’ bank account and reassured the money would be refunded after the ‘investigation’ concludes. But once money is transferred, the scammers disappear.”
In one case, a UOB customer rushed to the bank’s branch in Bedok, asking to withdraw $80,000 from her account, wiping it clean.
The bank’s assistant branch manager, Ms Emilita Lim, said: “She admitted that a ‘government official’ told her she had bought an insurance plan in Malaysia this year and if she did not cancel it, she would be charged $900 monthly. She was then told to withdraw $80,000 as she was under investigation for money laundering.
“Even though the scammers’ story did not add up, she was scared and wanted to do as she was told.”
After being convinced by Ms Lim, the woman did not withdraw any money.
Ms Emilita Lim stopped a customer from falling for an insurance services scam.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
The General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) said it has been alerted to variations of fraudulent phone calls made to the public impersonating GIA and insurance companies.
Its spokesman said: “GIA works closely with our members within the insurance industry, and with enforcement agencies such as the police to increase consumer education and awareness, and exchange intel on new variations of insurance scams.”
To make the scam more believable, scammers may state the victims’ names and personal details, and even advise them to make police reports about purported fraudulent insurance transactions.
Mr Beaver Chua, the head of anti-fraud at OCBC Bank’s group financial crime compliance department, said OCBC detected 15 insurance services scam cases and prevented over $400,000 of potential losses in the first nine months of 2025.
ScamShield Helpline: 1799
National helpline for mental well-being: 1771 (24 hours)/6669-1771 (via WhatsApp)
scamshield.gov.sg
Meanwhile, UOB prevented over 140 insurance services scam cases and averted nearly $2.5 million in potential losses in the past nine months.
Mr Yu Beng Soon, the head of anti-financial crime at UOB’s group compliance department, said: “While the number of such cases that the bank encountered has seen a slight decline in recent months this year, we do observe higher financial losses for some cases, highlighting the pressing need for customers to remain vigilant.”
A Great Eastern spokesman urged the public to verify any unsolicited or suspicious e-mails, messages or phone calls by calling the insurer directly through official channels.
A Prudential Singapore spokesman advised the public to refer to its official hotline or website and contact it to confirm if any requests are real.
He added: “Scammers like to use urgency to cause panic and make us act without thinking. Do not refer to the contact details provided by the scammers.”
