Alert on Unauthorized Business Activities & Impersonation
-
Friday, 23 December 2011
Alert on Unauthorized Business Activities and Impersonation of SCDF OfficerThe Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has received a number of complaints about companies claiming to be endorsed by the SCDF to sell fire extinguishers and/or conduct fire safety talks to the public. In some of these instances, the company personnel had shown the SCDF Emergency Handbook to give the impression that they are representing the SCDF. Furthermore, aggressive, ‘hard-sell’ techniques were adopted by them to get members of public in purchasing their products, fire insurance or signing up for their fire safety talks and training seminars. In a recent case, a member of public claimed that a woman had impersonated as a SCDF officer and tried to sell a fire extinguisher to his father. The complainant also claimed that the impersonator had mentioned that SCDF would provide $30,000 worth of fire insurance to them if they were to buy the extinguisher.
SCDF would like to inform members of the public that our officers are not involved in any direct sales of fire extinguishers and we have not authorized any company to conduct such activities. It is also a standard procedure for all uniformed regular staff of SCDF to display their warrant card when on duty. In addition, Full-time National Servicemen are issued with the NS identity Card. Both these cards bear the name, NRIC number and photograph of the card holder. When approached by anyone claiming to be SCDF personnel on official duties or as an authorized representative, the public are advised to request for their warrant card, NS Identity Card or letter of authorization, as proof of authentication. A sample of the warrant card and NS Identity Card are shown below.
The public should note that knowledge on fire safety and Community Emergency Preparedness Programmes (CEPP) are provided free of charge at all SCDF Division Headquarters. For more details on CEPP, the public can visit our SCDF website at http://www.scdf.gov.sg/scdf_internet/en/community-and-volunteers/community-preparedness/community-programmes/cepp.html.
A list of companies certified by TÜV SÜD PSB Singapore (previously known as PSB Corporation) for the servicing and maintenance of fire extinguishers is available on the SCDF and NFEC websites at the following links:
a) http://www.scdf.gov.sg/scdf_internet/en/building-professionals/downloads.html
b) http://www.nfec.gov.sg/prods_fire_safety_equip.htmlMembers of public can also contact SCDF general enquiries (1800-286-5555) if they encounter suspicious person(s) claiming to be representing SCDF or conducting unauthorized activities on its behalf. For cases involving the impersonation of SCDF officer, members of public are advised to lodge a police report.
In addition, individuals who wish to file a complaint against such companies can call CASE’s hotline (6-1000-315) for assistance. They can also file an online complaint via CASE’s website at the following link (http://www.case.org.sg/online_complaint.html) or walk in to CASE’s office located at Ghim Moh.