'DHL' parcel scam: 23-year-old suspect arrested

'DHL' parcel scam: 23-year-old suspect arrested
Posted 19 Jul 2016 21:05 Updated 19 Jul 2016 21:20

SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a "DHL" parcel scam, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Tuesday (Jul 19).

In a news release, SPF said a 32-year-old woman lodged a report on Jul 4 regarding a call received from an unknown person who claimed to be working for courier company DHL. She was told that she had a parcel containing illegal goods that was detained by Chinese Customs. The call was then transferred to another person whose number was reflected in caller ID as "999", and he claimed to be from the police, SPF said.

The victim was then asked to provide her Internet banking credentials, including the one-time password (OTP) from her Internet banking dongle. She later discovered that her i-banking account had been accessed without her knowledge and about S$36,000 had been transferred to an unknown bank account.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department who investigated the case arrested a 23-year-old suspect on Monday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect is believed to be involved in at least five other similar cases in which the victims had suffered losses amounting to a total of about S$90,000, SPF said.

The suspect will be charged in court on Wednesday for dishonestly receiving stolen property. If convicted, he faces up to five years' imprisonment, a fine or both.

The arrest comes amid a rising trend in phone scams. Just four days ago, the police separately nabbed three suspects for a similar scam, and since March police say they have received more than 50 reports of scammers impersonating overseas officials, tricking their victims into sending more than S$4 million in total.

The scams usually involve callers impersonating staff from courier companies like DHL and informing victims that parcels containing fake passports or weapons had been shipped in their name. The calls would then be transferred to another person claiming to be a customs or police officer who would tell victims to provide personal information including identification number, address, passport number and bank account details.

Impersonation scams and Internet love scams accounted for the top 10 largest single cheating cases in the first four months of the year, with an impersonation scam claiming the highest amount lost by a victim in a single case this year - S$2.3 million.

- CNA/mz


- wong chee tat :)

S$200m logistics hub breaks ground at Jurong West

S$200m logistics hub breaks ground at Jurong West
By Millet Enriquez | Posted: 07 December 2012 2224 hrs

SINGAPORE : A S$200 million logistics hub broke ground at Jurong West on Friday.

Named Supply Chain City, the facility is the brainchild of logistics firm YCH.

Apart from serving as its headquarters, the facility will also cater to other companies needing logistics space.

YCH is transforming a 6.5-hectare area in western Singapore to build its new home come 2014.

It will house a five-storey warehouse, a first-of-its-kind automated material handling system and eight floors of offices.

Supply Chain City is going to be a modern hub that rivals YCH's facilities in India and China.

This is in anticipation of booming demand for logistics and creating an ecosystem for the industry.

Robert Yap, chairman and CEO of YCH Group, said: "The community will include even the other logistics players and also the logistics or supply chain experts from all our customers.

"We hope that Supply Chain City will be where all the next generation, the new supply chain innovations come from."

Singapore's logistics and transport sector employs more than 200,000 workers and is facing a serious labour crunch.

Some S$42 million has been set aside by the government for the sector, through the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC), to raise its productivity and improve training.

To date, around 50 logistics companies have benefited from the roll-out of the five-year productivity roadmap, since March this year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said: "There will be more strong logistics companies including...very small players that we are now nurturing through SPRING and IE Singapore. And the government is ready to support your growth and aspirations in this next phase of our economic development."

Experts have said big brands in the West are moving their warehousing and distribution to bring products closer to regional markets.

As Asia remains a centre for manufacturing, more companies will likely continue heading East.

- CNA/ms

- wong chee tat :)

Japanese logistics firm Yamato sets up parcel delivery service in S'pore

Japanese logistics firm Yamato sets up parcel delivery service in S'pore
By Mok Fei Fei, 938LIVE
     
SINGAPORE: Japanese logistics firm Yamato is setting up shop in Singapore. Yamato Transport, a unit of Yamato Holdings, has launched its express door-to-door small parcel delivery service in Singapore.

The service, called TA-Q-BIN, is the firm's first independent domestic operation outside Japan

The firm said Singapore was chosen because it offered a pro-business environment and sophisticated consumer base.

Anchoring Yamato's Singapore operations will be its standard express door-to-door delivery service, which the firm expects will be heavily utilised by firms.

Yamato will also launch a chilled and frozen refrigerated delivery service that allows users to send perishable items such as seafood and ice-cream.

Currently, 10 million domestic deliveries are made in Singapore each year and Yamato expects the figure to rise with its entrance.

Beyond Singapore, Yamato also plans to establish operations in other parts of Asia, starting with Shanghai, China in 2010.

- 938LIVE/vm

- wong chee tat :)