The Police would like to alert members of the public of the re-emergence of a job scam where victims would be invited to participate in jobs that would allow them to earn commission through purchasing movie tickets to boost the films. Since 1 April 2022, the Police have received 17 such reports involving losses amounting to at least $209,000.
In these cases, the scammers would pretend to be online marketing businesses and would ask the victims to access websites where they would begin their tasks by topping up accounts and purchasing movie tickets to earn commissions. The scammers would provide victims with bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for the payment to be made. Most of the time, the victims would be convinced that their work was legitimate as their accounts would indicate the commissions they received after completing the tasks. Subsequently, the victims would be asked to make more payments for ‘deluxe’ or ‘premium’ tickets. However, victims would eventually discover that they had been scammed when they were unable to withdraw the money from their accounts.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- Do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort;
- Never download applications from unverified sources; and
- Never send money to anyone whom you do not know or have not met in person.
If you have information related to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please dial ‘999’ if you require urgent Police assistance.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.
Annex A
Screenshots of websites reported
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
09 April 2022 @ 4:40 PM