The Police has observed the re-emergence of social media impersonation scam. In the first six months of 2020, the Police received at least 1,188 reports of such scam cases, compared to only 83 cases in the same period in 2019. The total amount cheated also increased to S$2.8 million, from at least S$726,000 in the same period in 2019.
In majority of these cases, scammers would often use compromised or spoofed social media accounts to impersonate as the victims’ friends on WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram. Victims were tricked into disclosing their credit card information and One-Time Password (OTP) to scammers.
In recent cases, victims received fake Qoo10 campaign messages from their friends over WhatsApp, claiming that they had won a lucky draw. These messages led the victims tofake Qoo10 websites that requested for the victims’ personal details such as mobile number, internet banking account details, and OTP, on the pretext of an administrative procedure for victims to claim their prize. Victims would later discover that unauthorised fraudulent transactions had been made from their credit cards and bank accounts without their consent.
Members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- Be wary of unexpected requests or offers from social media contacts, especially those related to lucky draws or contests;
- Be wary of URL links provided in unsolicited text messages, especially those related to deals that seem too good to be true;
- Always verify the authenticity of the information with the official website or sources;
- Never disclose your personal or Internet banking details and OTP to anyone; and
- Report any fraudulent credit/debit card charges to your bank and cancel your card immediately.
If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
To seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. 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 victims.
Fake Qoo10 Websites
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
23 November 2020 @ 9:10 PM