The Police would like to alert members of the public to a job scam variant where scammers impersonating as representatives of well-known platforms or online marketing companies, would entice victims by giving them commission for the completion of simple social media tasks to generate social media traction. In December 2023, at least 180 victims have fallen prey, with losses amounting to at least $2.6m.
Approach 1
In this scam variant, victims would receive unsolicited job offers from scammers after being added into chatgroups on WhatsApp or Telegram. In some cases, scammers may also claim to represent TikTok or online communications/marketing companies when they approached victims with job offers. Victims would be given tasks involving generation of social media traction. To perform these task, victims will be asked to follow influencers’ accounts on TikTok or Instagram, liking and subscribing to YouTube channels/videos, boosting accounts by following/liking/commenting on accounts and/or posts, or liking songs on Spotify. Upon completion of the “tasks”, the victims would receive a small commission. After victims were convinced that they could earn more commission, the scammers introduce more rewarding tasks to perform. In some cases, scammers would provide victims with fake employment contracts to reinforce the deception. To perform these tasks, victims had to create accounts on scam websites and then transfer increasingly large sums of monies to bank accounts or crypto wallets provided by the scammers. Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when their website account showed a negative account balance, and they were told to pay additional funds in order to “upgrade their accounts” or when they failed to withdraw their “earnings”.
Approach 2
Victims would receive unsolicited WhatsApp or Telegram messages, claiming that they had “won a giveaway” prize and would receive a small commission by completing “easy tasks” such as following an account on Instagram. After victims were convinced that they could earn money easily, scammers would introduce them to advanced tasks. Victims would be added to chatgroups where tasks involving generation of social media traction or transfer of monies as “investment” would be discussed. Victims would have to create accounts on scam websites and transfer monies to bank accounts or crypto wallets provided by the scammers. These are done with the pretext of earning higher commission. Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they encountered a negative account balance on their job website and were told to pay additional funds to “upgrade their accounts” or when they failed to withdraw their “earnings”.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to adopt the following precautionary measures:
- ADD - ScamShield App to protect yourself from scam calls and SMSes. Set security features (e.g. set up transaction limits for internet banking transactions, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Multifactor Authentication for banks and e-wallets). Do not send money to anyone whom you do not know or have not met in person before.
- CHECK - For scam signs with official sources (e.g. ScamShield WhatsApp bot @ https://go.gov.sg/scamshield-bot, call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688, or visit www.scamalert.sg). Always verify the authenticity of job offers through official channels/sources and do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort. Do not engage or believe claims made in any messaging app group chats that you are randomly added or invited into and do not click on suspicious URLs or download apps from unknown sources.
- TELL - Authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the scammers or group chat using the in-app reporting function to WhatsApp and Telegram!
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. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!
Annex
Approach 1
Victims are recruited by scammers offering “jobs”.
Victims are given a link to a fake TikTok website to register for an account to complete advanced tasks. In some cases, victims are shown fake contracts that they have to agree before proceeding to advanced tasks.
Account created for “Advance tasks”.
Scammer’s instructions to PayNow to specific accounts
Approach 2
Scammer’s instructions to follow Instagram accounts tasks.
Scammer’s instructions to crypto tasks.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 January 2024 @ 5:58 PM