SINGAPORE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 614,000 Singapore dollars (about 460,500 U.S. dollars) has been lost in at least three scam cases involving fraudsters posing as officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) since March, the agency has warned.

In a joint statement with police, the MAS said that in this scam variant, victims received unsolicited calls from individuals pretending to be MAS officials. To appear credible, the scammers instructed victims to verify their identity by entering their name into an MAS' e-service portal.

While the portal is legitimate, the MAS clarified that it is a public registry of financial representatives conducting regulated activities under Singapore's financial laws, while it is not a list of MAS employees.

Thereafter, the scammers claimed that the victims' bank accounts have been used for money laundering or that their personal information has been compromised, ultimately deceiving them into disclosing sensitive personal details. (1 Singapore dollar equals 0.75 U.S. dollars) Enditem