The Police would like to alert members of the public to remain vigilant against investment scams. Since January 2025, there have been at least 470 cases reported, with total losses amounting to at least $32.6 million.
In this scam variant, scammers would approach victims through social media platforms, and communications and dating applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp and Coffee Meets Bagel. Scammers would build rapport with victims to gain their trust before introducing “investment opportunities”, which may involve cryptocurrencies. Victims would be deceived into opening accounts at crypto-exchanges and transferring money into their accounts to purchase cryptocurrencies. Scammers will then get victims to transfer their cryptocurrencies to the fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platforms or scammer’s wallets. In some cases, victims may receive small profits initially from the scammer to deceive them to continue investing. “Investment” websites or applications displaying alleged growing “profits” made by victims will also lead them into investing larger sums.
In some cases, victims would come across investment advertisements on social media platforms (e.g. Instagram or Facebook). Some of these advertisements may feature supposed “endorsement” from political figures or celebrities. After clicking on the advertisements’ links, victims were led to messaging platforms (e.g. WhatsApp or Telegram) to contact the scammers. In other cases, victims were redirected to fraudulent trading platforms instead and prompted to provide their personal particulars, such as contact details and card details to register for an account. These victims would then receive phone calls or messages from scammers posing as staff from investment companies or brokers.
Scammers could also reach out to victims by adding them into chat groups or channels (e.g. Telegram). To lure victims into believing that the investment is authentic and profitable, these chat groups or channels may associate themselves with famous individuals or reputable companies or have other “members” in the chat group attest to the profits they have made from the investments. Victims would contact the scammers who would then offer them various investment plans and ask for their personal information to join the “investment”. To reinforce the deceit, scammers may also use “investment” websites or applications to display “profits”.
Most victims realise that they had been scammed when they could not withdraw their “profits” despite transferring increasingly large sums of “fees incurred” for the “investment”. Alternatively, scammers become uncontactable.
Members of the public are strongly advised to be cautious when making investment decisions and to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- ADD - Set security features (e.g. activate the privacy function on your device which disallows unknown users from adding you into chat groups).
- CHECK – Check for scam signs with official sources or websites. You can check the legitimacy of suspicious messages, phone numbers and website links via the ScamShield app or visit the ScamShield website at www.scamshield.gov.sg. Verify the authenticity of the investment company by:
- Asking as many questions as needed to understand the investment opportunities. If the company is unable to answer or avoids answering any questions, be wary.
- Checking on the company, its owners, directors, and management members to assess if the investment opportunities are genuine; and
- Confirming the company’s and representatives’ credentials by using available resources, including the Financial Institutions Directory, Register of Representatives, and Investor Alert List on the MAS’ website (www.mas.gov.sg).
- Checking that applications installed on your phone are legitimate by seeing if they are available on official application stores.
- TELL - Tell the authorities as well as your family and friends if or when you encounter scams. Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately
If you are in doubt, call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799 to check. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
Annex A
Screenshots of Fake Investment Trading Platforms/Apps (e.g. GEMINI PRO, BEFI, TXBN, Bcsqn) ▼
Screenshots of Scam Advertisments ▼
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
11 February 2025 @ 6:00 PM