Singapore police warn of new scam using numbers starting with digit 3; at least $274,000 lost

Singapore Police Force issued a public warning on July 19, 2026 about a scam involving unsolicited calls from eight-digit numbers starting with the digit 3, with at least 12 cases reported since mid-May 2026 and total losses of approximately $274,000. Fraudsters impersonate representatives from banks, telecommunications companies, or financial institutions before transferring calls to accomplices posing as officials from the Ministry of Law, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or the police, accusing victims of money laundering. Victims are pressured to transfer funds to "safe accounts" or to physically hand over cash and valuables to unknown individuals for purported "investigation purposes."