Victims lose more than S$259,000 in courier phishing scams since Jun 24
At least 43 cases have been reported to the police, including at least 20 on Jul 13 alone.
by Bridget Tan · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force has warned of an increase in phishing scams impersonating courier companies, with at least 43 cases reported and losses exceeding S$259,000 (US$200,700) since Jun 24.
At least 20 reports were lodged on Jul 13 alone.
In an advisory on Wednesday (Jul 15), police noted that scammers contacted their victims through text messages from numbers with the country code +212 (Morocco), or email addresses that "appear to come from recognised couriers such as NinjaVan and J&T Express".
Victims were informed that their parcels could not be delivered due to an "invalid" address and told to update their delivery address within 24 hours through a link that closely resembled the courier's genuine URL.
CNA Games
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less
The link led to a spoofed website where they were to prompted to pay a small "re-delivery fee", ranging from S$0.06 to S$1.64.
Some victims had their credit cards added to Google Pay or Apple Pay without their knowledge after entering their banking details and authorising the transactions.
Victims typically discovered they had been scammed only after noticing unauthorised transactions made to their cards or bank accounts, police said.
The police urged the public to take the following precautions to avoid falling victim to such scams:
- Download the ScamShield app and add security features such as two-factor or multifactor authentication for their banks. Transaction limits should also be set up for for internet banking
- Check for scam signs with official sources like the ScamShield WhatsApp bot, or call the Anti-Scam Helpline at 1800-722-6688
- Tell the authorities, family and friends about scams and report fraudulent transactions immediately
Anyone with information on such scams may call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app