The Police would like to alert members of the public to a variant of job scam where victims would be invited to participate in jobs that would allow them to earn commission by reviewing travel attractions and packages. Since January 2022, at least 169 victims have fallen prey to this scam, with losses amounting to at least $2.7 million.
In these cases, the victims would receive unsolicited messages from scammers claiming to be job recruiters via messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram. The scammers would claim to be recruiting for jobs that offer high commission for reviewing of travel attractions and packages. To reinforce the ruse, scammers would impersonate as legitimate travel companies such as Anywhr, Sojern, American Lloyd, IPC Group, and Oriental Travel and Tours etc. Victims who expressed interest in the jobs would be instructed to sign up for accounts on the spoofed websites provided by the scammers. Victims would be required to top-up their accounts with money in order to review the attractions and earn commissions. The scammers would provide victims with bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for payment to be made. Victims would initially be convinced that their work was legitimate as they were able to withdraw the commissions and would thus continue to top up their accounts as directed by the scammers. Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they were unable to withdraw 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. If it is too good to be true, it probably is;
- Always verify the authenticity of the job offer with the company offering the job; 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.
Annex A
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
31 March 2022 @ 10:50 PM