The conman doesn’t have to dress up like a police officer to scam others these days – he can do it online and over the phone.
That’s the warning by the Singapore Police after large amounts of money were lost by people who fell for scams involving a fake Singapore Police Force (SPF) website, it said in a statement on April 19.
The victims would typically receive calls allegedly from police officers, claiming they are suspected of involvement in criminal activities such as money laundering as they seem to have excessively large amounts of money in their bank accounts.
The victims are given a link to a website that looks like the official SPF website, and then asked to provide credit card details and Internet banking credentials for their investigation.
But it is actually a phishing site, designed to extract personal information and banking details, the police warned, adding that “extensive monetary losses” were reported in most cases.
The public is reminded that the official SPF website is www.police.gov.sg.
You can call the anti-scam helpline – 1800-722-6688 – to seek advice on how not to fall for such scams. The police also urged the public to spread the word to their family and friends.
Here are some tips:
1. Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. Calls that appear to be from a local number may not be from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait five minutes, then call the number back to check its validity.
2. Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party’s bank account.
3. Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
chenj@sph.com.sg
