The Police would like to alert members of the public of a phishing scam variant involving the download of a fake ScamShield App. Members of the public are advised not to download any suspicious app on their devices as they may contain phishing malware which allows the scammers to take control of the victim’s devices.
In this scam variant, members of the public would come across advertisements for sale of food items (e.g., otah) via social media messaging platforms like Facebook on their Android mobile devices. Victims would contact the scammers via WhatsApp and the scammers would send a uniform resource locator (URL) to the victims. The scammers would inform the victims to download the application found at the URL in order to purchase the food items, and to make payment. Unauthorised transactions would be made from the victim's bank accounts or credit cards.
Shortly after making these unauthorised transactions, the scammers would contact the victim and introduce themselves as bank staff who are following up on the fraudulent transactions. The scammer would then recommend the victim to download the ScamShield App using a URL link, fraudulently bearing the ScamShield logo, on the pretext of getting the victim to safeguard himself against scams and to make a report in the ScamShield App. Scammers would insist that the URL link provided is legitimate and would inform victims not to download the ScamShield App from the official Google Play Store.
The Police would like to remind members of the public of the dangers of downloading applications from third-party or dubious sites that can lead to malware being installed on victims’ mobile phones, computers, and other Information Communications Technology (ICT) devices. Scammers will trick victims into installing malware-infected applications that are outside the app store. To find out more on downloading the ScamShield App on your Android devices, please refer to the official guide at https://www.scamshield.org.sg/android-app/setup/.
If you have any information relating 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. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688. To find out more about malware and the preventive steps that users can take to protect their devices, please refer to CSA's SingCERT advisory at https://www.csa.gov.sg/alerts-advisories/Advisories/2021/ad-2021-008. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
Images of the conversation between the victim and the “bank staff” whereby the victim was asked to download the fake ScamShield App ▼
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 May 2023 @ 9:55 PM