SINGAPORE: Members of the public have raised privacy concerns over being able to access individuals’ National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s (Acra) portal.
People were able to access the IC numbers of those connected to a Singapore-registered business.
The concerns were raised by readers spooked by recent scams, including what happened to a holidaying couple whose bank accounts were blocked and credit cards cancelled by identity thieves.
On Dec 11, ST was alerted to the search feature on the Bizfile portal for business regulations and filings.
“I found my IC number on Bizfile,” said housewife Gina Tan, who started checking the portal after a scammer posing as an Interpol officer called her mother and read out her address and IC number.
Believing that they were legitimate because they had her details, her mother almost sent the scammers her own bank details, but was stopped in time by Tan.
Tan's mother also found the names and IC numbers of her friends.
On Dec 12, ST was able to obtain the NRIC numbers and the full names of several prominent businessmen and cabinet ministers directly from the Bizfile website, for free.
For S$33 per name, ST was also able to buy the full profiles of these people and obtain their listed business address, current appointments and past appointments.
ST contacted Acra and the Infocomm Media Development Authority on Dec 12 for comment. - The Straits Times/ANN
