Police Advisory On Job Scams

The Police would like to alert members of the public on three common job scam variants where scammers would approach victims via dating apps or communication/social media platforms under the pretext of befriending or offering jobs before enticing them with commission to perform tasks such as boosting products on e-commerce platforms, completing surveys, or generating traction on social media content. Between 1 October 2023 and 31 January 2024, at least 3,066 victims have fallen prey, with losses amounting to at least $45.7 million.

Approach 1 – Tasks involving social media boosting

In this job scam variant, victims would be added into WhatsApp or Telegram chatgroups which promised profitable and easy online jobs. Scammers may claim to represent TikTok or actual online communications/marketing companies to give the false impression that the job offers were authentic. Victims would be given tasks involving the generation of social media traction such as following/liking/commenting on accounts and/or posts on TikTok or Instagram, liking and subscribing to YouTube channels/videos, liking songs on Spotify, or liking posts on Trip.com. Upon completion of the “tasks”, the victims would receive a small commission. After victims were convinced that they could earn more commission, the scammers would introduce more “rewarding tasks”. In some cases, scammers would provide victims with fake employment contracts to reinforce the deception.

Approach 2 – Tasks involving surveys

Victims would receive WhatsApp or Telegram messages offering small commissions for the completion of surveys. After victims were convinced that they could earn money easily, scammers would introduce them to “advanced tasks”. They would be asked to reach out to other WhatsApp/Telegram contacts or join chatgroups where tasks such as social media boosting or transfer of monies for “investment” would be discussed.

To perform these "advanced tasks”, victims would have to create accounts on scam websites and instructed to transfer increasingly larger sums of money to bank accounts or crypto wallets provided by scammers. Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when their website account showed a negative account balance and were told to pay additional funds to “upgrade their accounts” or when they were unable to withdraw their “earnings”.

Approach 3 – Tasks involving affiliate marketing

Victims would be approached and befriended by scammers on communication platforms/dating apps/social media such as Facebook or Instagram. before seeking victims’ assistance or offering commission to boost products on e-commerce platforms. Subsequently, scammers would refer victims to other WhatsApp or Telegram contacts where they would be instructed to browse legitimate e-commerce websites, screenshot specified products and make payment to provided bank accounts/PayNow numbers before they can get their refunds and commissions. This process would be repeated several times, beginning with low-cost items, before progressing to increasingly expensive items. While victims would initially receive both refunds and commissions, they would eventually realise that they had been scammed when scammers stop “paying” and become uncontactable.

The Police would like to advise members of the public that jobs entailing the generation of social media traction, affiliate marketing, or peer-to-peer transfer of monies/cryptocurrencies may be related to scam activities. Scammers would offer fraudulent job offers on Telegram and WhatsApp by adding potential victims into chatgroups where there may be other scammers posing as persons who claimed to have successfully completed such jobs offers and earned commissions. This creates the facade that the job offers are legitimate.

Members of the public are strongly advised to be cautious when being added into communication platform chatgroups or channels offering dubious investment or job opportunities. To avoid being gratuitously added into scam chatgroups, members of the public are encouraged to activate the privacy function on their devices which disallows unknown users from adding them into chatgroups. The Police would also 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. enable privacy settings on your messaging accounts, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, to allow only known contacts to be able to add you into chatgroups).
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 were 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
Screenshots of recruitment message and tasks ▼

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