Singapore police warn of increase in banking-related phishing scams; victims have already lost RM365,000

SINGAPORE, June 5 (The Straits Times/ANN): At least 28 people have fallen prey to banking-related phishing scams since last month, losing at least S$114,000 (RM365,000).

The police on Sunday (June 5) warned of an increase in phishing scams where swindlers impersonate bank staff and target victims through phone calls or SMS messages.

In one of these scams, victims would receive phone calls from people pretending to be bank employees.

The caller would request for the victims' personal details, like their Internet banking username and password, under the pretext that the bank needed them to verify transactions in the victims' account.

In other cases, the caller said the victim was under investigation for transferring large sums of money to another bank.

After the victims provided their details, they would receive one-time passwords (OTPs) on their mobile phones. The callers would then ask the victims for the OTPs.

In another scam variant, victims would get unsolicited SMS messages claiming that their debit or credit card had been blocked due to unusual activities.

Other messages said the victims' bank account had been frozen as the "bank account was unusual".

The SMS would direct victims to click on a link, which was a spoofed Internet banking log-in page where they would furnish their online banking username and password.

Then, the victims would be redirected to another spoofed webpage where they were asked to key in the OTPs received on their mobile phones.

"Victims of both variants will only discover that they had been scammed when they were notified of unauthorised transactions made from their bank accounts," the police said.

They advise the public to always verify the authenticity of claims of problems with their bank accounts or cards issued by the bank with the official bank website or sources, and report any fraudulent transactions to their bank immediately.

"Do not click on dubious URL links provided in unsolicited text messages. Banks do not send SMSes containing links," they added.

Those with information related to such crimes can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

The police advise the public to call 999 if they require urgent assistance.

More scam-related advice can be found at this website or via the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688. - The Straits Times/ANN