Authorities in Singapore have seized more than ₹360 crore linked to a large scale business email compromise scam, marking one of the biggest cross border financial crime recoveries facilitated through the Egmont Group. The case highlights swift international coordination and rapid asset freezing in tackling digital financial fraud.
The fraud targeted a Singapore based commodity trading firm that received what appeared to be a genuine email from one of its suppliers. The message directed the company to transfer funds to a new bank account in Timor Leste. However, the sender email address had been slightly altered, a common tactic used in business email compromise scams. On 19 July 2024, the firm transferred about ₹384 crore, around $42.3 million at that time. The scam was discovered 4 days later when the real supplier confirmed it had not received the payment. The incident was immediately reported to the Singapore Police Force.
Through fast coordination under the Egmont Group secure financial intelligence sharing system, around ₹354 crore was quickly detected and frozen. An additional ₹18 crore was recovered through asset tracing and arrests. The total recovery crossed ₹360 crore, setting a major enforcement milestone. The operation involved real time cooperation between authorities in Singapore, Timor Leste and other jurisdictions, underlining the importance of rapid response in cyber enabled financial crimes.
Business email compromise scams remain among the most damaging cybercrimes worldwide. Criminals impersonate trusted vendors or executives to divert legitimate payments into fraudulent accounts. Once transferred, funds are often layered across multiple jurisdictions to avoid detection. Authorities stressed the need for companies to independently verify any change in payment instructions, use multi factor authentication for email systems, train employees on phishing risks and report suspicious transactions immediately. The case shows that strong international intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement can disrupt and reverse large scale financial fraud.
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