The Police would like to warn members of the public of the re-emergence of a job scam targeting delivery couriers. In the course of fulfilling the delivery requests, the delivery couriers would become victims of scam. Since April 2022, there have been several victims with losses amounting to at least $2,000.
In these cases, the scammers would target couriers from various delivery platforms. There are two variants of the scam:
- In the first variant, the scammers would submit a request through the delivery platform. Thereafter, the scammers would contact the assigned courier and request for assistance in purchasing iTunes gift cards from the convenience stores at the pick-up location and deliver the gift cards to the drop-off location. The scammers would then ask the courier to scratch and reveal the code behind the card and send a photo of the code as a proof of purchase. After the courier complies, the scammers would become uncontactable and would not reimburse the courier’s payment for the gift cards.
- In the second variant, the scammers would indicate a remittance agency as the location for the courier to pick up the delivery. However, the scammers would subsequently contact the assigned courier and request for the courier to transfer a certain amount of money to an overseas account and promise an attractive tip of at least $100 per remittance. The couriers would only realise that they had been cheated when the scammers became uncontactable and they discover that there was no one at the delivery location to make payment for the courier’s earlier remittance.
The Police would like to advise members of the public on the following:
- Do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort. If an offer is too good to be true, it probably is.
- Never assist anyone, whom you have not met in person, with any monetary transfers, including remittance. You are responsible for all transactions that you make.
- Never provide the codes for gift cards without first receiving payment.
- Report the scammer to the delivery platform customer service immediately.
The Police would also like to caution members of the public that providing cross-border money transfer payment service (remittance) without a licence is an offence punishable under Section 5(3)(a) of the Payment Services Act 2019. If convicted, the individual can be fined up to $125,000, be jailed for up to three years, or both.
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 information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
10 May 2022 @ 6:15 PM