SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force issued another advisory over a scam in which perpetrators made off with over half a million dollars from at least 191 victims between January and March this year.
The Police described the scam as a variant of Lucky Draw scams. Individuals who fall prey are tricked into giving their banking credentials or paying for the cash-out prizes they supposedly won from lucky draws.
These scammers have obtained at least S$521,000 from their victims in 2024.
They first made contact with their victims through social media platforms, most commonly Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Amazon, under the pretext of a lucky draw by means of advertisements or through direct messages.
The individuals who fell for the scam were deceived into making payments that guaranteed either a prize or the opportunity to win high-value prizes, including an iPhone 15 and branded wallets.
“In some cases, scammers would video call victims via WhatsApp and request for screen sharing under the pretext of verifying their payments.
Through the screensharing, scammers would be able to observe the victims logging into their bank accounts, including sighting the banking credentials they keyed in,” the Police explained.
When they did not receive their lucky draw prizes, the victims would realize they had been scammed.
Read also: Police warn against fixed deposit ‘promotions’; victims already lost S$650,000 in 2024
The Police added, “Members of the public are strongly advised to be cautious when screensharing your WhatsApp calls and to adopt the following precautionary (ACT) measures.:
ADD: Add the ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes.
Set security features (e.g. set up Money Lock; set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks).
Victims who allowed scammers to verify their I-banking payments via the WhatsApp screen-sharing function are advised to change their I-banking credentials and passwords to prevent it from being abused by the scammers.
CHECK: Check for scam signs with official sources (e.g. ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg).
TELL: Tell the authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the scam to Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Report any unauthorised transactions to the banks.”
Members of the public can also visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688 for more information regarding scams./TISG
Read also: Scammers now target Pope’s visit to Singapore; Catholic Church issues warning
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