A fake Lianhe Zaobao website used to promote fake gambling sites. - PHOTO: HOME TEAM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AGENCY via The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE, March 5 (The Straits Times/ANN): Bearing the logos of different news organisations, the websites appeared almost identical to the real ones, with the exact same layouts.
But a key difference is that they claimed Singaporeans could win thousands of dollars overnight by placing bets on “trusted” gambling sites.
An unsuspecting reader might have been misled into believing that The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and CNA were promoting online gambling in their articles.
Only closer scrutiny would reveal clues that the sites were fake – for one thing, the domains read zaobao-now.com or channelasianews.com
The sites, which have since been blocked, also contained links leading to fake gambling sites believed to be used to scam victims into revealing their bank account and personal details.
The phishing sites were identified in early 2022 during a trial of the Online Cybersquat Hunter (OCH) created by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX).
The tool uses artificial intelligence with image and text analytics to scan two million sites daily, picking up fake ones and taking them down.
It was developed and first deployed in late 2020, and was initially built to scan for sites that mimicked those of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and its affiliated organisations.
But the tool has since been extended to other government organisations to assist them in fighting scams.
During a trial to test if it could pick up fake news websites in 2022, the OCH flagged more than 10 sites believed to have been set up by scammers.
It was developed and first deployed in late 2020, and was initially built to scan for sites that mimicked those of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and its affiliated organisations.
But the tool has since been extended to other government organisations to assist them in fighting scams.
During a trial to test if it could pick up fake news websites in 2022, the OCH flagged more than 10 sites believed to have been set up by scammers.
Attempts to access the sites now are met with a warning from the police that they are suspected scam websites.
Scams are a key concern, with over 31,000 cases reported in 2022 and at least $660.7 million lost.
Of these, phishing scams were the most prevalent, with more than 7,000 cases reported. - The Straits Times/ANN
