If someone knocks on your door and introduces
themselves as a SkillsFuture government official, asking you for
your Singapore Personal Access (SingPass) credentials, be on your
guard.
There has been a rise in police reports on such cases,
the police said in a statement jointly issued with SkillsFuture
Singapore on Friday (Aug 17).
Since July this year, at least 10 reports were made
about individuals posing as government officials, going door to
door to promote the use of SkillsFuture Credit.
The impersonators asked for victims' personal
particulars, SingPass credentials and mobile phone numbers, saying
they would help check if the victims were eligible for SkillsFuture
Credit.
They also asked victims, many of whom are elderly
retirees, to surrender their mobile phones and OneKey tokens if
they had them, and many did so.
Once they had the information, the impersonators used
the particulars and mobile phone or token to apply for courses
using their SkillsFuture Credit.
The SkillsFuture Credit scheme, which was introduced
last January for more than two million people, gives Singaporeans
aged 25 and older an initial $500 credit to pay for skills
courses.
SkillsFuture Singapore said it "takes a stern view of
any abuse of the SkillsFuture Credit and is working closely with
the Singapore Police Force to take the necessary action against the
parties involved".
The police advised the public to take the following
precautions:
- Always ask for and check the identification pass of
the person claiming to be a government official;
- Call the government agency's official telephone
number to confirm the identity of the person; and
- Do not provide your personal particulars, SingPass
credentials, mobile phone or tokens to strangers. The information
can be used to access various digital services provided by
government agencies.
ST
If you have received a call from someone named John
Richard who claims to be from the Immigration & Checkpoints
Authority (ICA), be on your guard.
The caller is phishing for personal information like
bank details, driving licence numbers and other personal
particulars, ICA said in a statement on Friday (Oct 13).
The man, who reportedly calls himself "John Richard",
uses the number 6542-5314 to target victims, saying he is calling
from the ICA Airport Logistics Park general office.
ICA clarified that the calls were not made by its
officers, and added that it does not call the public to ask for
personal information over the phone.
The police have been alerted of the scam.
ICA advised the public to ignore the calls and the
caller's instructions. It also advised the public not to provide
any personal particulars to the caller or transfer any money to
him.
It added that it takes a serious view of such scam
calls as it undermines public trust in ICA.
Those with information on the scam calls may submit
information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness or
call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000.
Just last week, ICA warned the public about scam
callers who impersonate ICA officers in a bid to obtain passport
numbers.
Those calls were made from this number: +65
6214-8427.
Also last week, ICA raised the alert about a fake
website that was dressed up to look like the official ICA
website.
Called singaporeonline-epass.com, the site aims to
trick visitors into revealing their visa reference and passport
numbers.
ST
claimed to be a police officer. The scammer told
the man that he was involved in a case of money laundering, and
asked him for his personal details.
The victim then received a call from another scammer
who directed him to a website that resembles SPF's website.
He was told to provide his personal information such as
his name, personal identification number, bank account details and
passwords.
The victim later realised that two transactions had
been made from his bank account without his consent.
The scammers reportedly told him to delete the bank
notifications, which indicated the sum of money that had been
transferred.
The police said in their statement on Friday that the
website is a phishing site in disguise, designed to extract
personal information and banking details of victims in hopes of
getting money from them.
The official SPF website is at www.police.gov.sg, and the police
advised the public to take the following precautions when they
receive unsolicited calls, especially from people they do not
know:
1. Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID
spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a
different number. Calls that appear to be from a local number
may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a
suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait five minutes,
then call the number back to check the validity of the request.
2. Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money.
No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a
telephone call, especially to a third party's bank account.
3. Refrain from giving out personal information
and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the
phone. Personal information and bank details, such as internet
bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are
useful to criminals.
Additionally, the police cautioned the public to be
wary of befriending strangers online who ask to use their bank
accounts as they may be used as money mules.
To avoid this, adopt the following crime prevention
measures:
a. Do not give your personal particulars or bank
account details to strangers.
b. Decline any request by acquaintance for money
transfers - you might unwittingly be committing a crime by
laundering money for another party.
c. Report to the police and the bank immediately if you
suspect that you have received unknown monies in your account.
d. If you are approached by anyone who claims to be a
police officer, ask for the warrant card. If you are in doubt,
please dial 999 for urgent police assistance.
e. If you have information related to such crimes or if
you are in doubt, call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or
submit the information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
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The Singapore Police Force has issued an official
statement on its Facebook page, warning netizens about
phishing websites.
This comes after some netizens were reportedly tricked
into giving their personal information, including credit card
details after responding to SMSes reportedly sent by United
Overseas Bank (UOB).
However, the victims later realised that there were
unauthorised transactions in various foreign currencies made to
their credit cards.
The victims each described having received an SMS
allegedly sent by UOB, in which they were asked to visit a link
provided.
They would then be directed to a website that resembles
a genuine bank website and asked to enter personal information, as
well as credit card details.
Among the information asked were the credit card
number, date of expiry and Card Verification Value of the
respective cards.
In each of these cases, the scammers then downloaded
the ‘UOB Mighty App’ without the knowledge of the victims, and
entered the data provided by the victims.
This led to the victims receiving One-Time Password
(OTP) prompts sent by the bank to their mobile phones, which they
were asked to key into the website.
The victims subsequently received SMS notifications
that foreign transactions were made on their credit cards.
One victim, Stephen
Tay posted on Facebook about his experience, saying:
“Got this SMS an hour ago and it only states a link to
uob-mob_com (I switched the . to a _ to prevent Facebook from
leading you to the actual link)
“Beware! This is a new form of spoofing to get your
login information.
“The domain name is not owned by UOB and was just
registered as the SMS was sent out.
“If you see such messages, delete them!”
In response to the incidents, the police urged members
of the public to be vigilant in their post.
Read the post:
“A) Be wary when you are asked to disclose your
personal information and bank account details over the
internet.
“B) Beware of phishing websites that may look genuine.
Look for signs that you are using a legitimate or secure website.
These websites are generally encrypted to protect your details.
Secure websites use 'https:' instead of 'http:' at the start of the
internet address, or display a closed padlock or unbroken key icon
at the bottom right corner of your browser window.
“C) Report any fraudulent charges detected in your
credit card bills to your bank immediately.”
It also encouraged victims to call the helpline or go
to www.scamalert.sg to get advice
on scams and how to avoid them.
