Police warn of new phishing scam involving fraudulent Budget 2024 infographics
Published on
23 Apr 2024
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – A new variant of phishing scams, involving fraudulent Budget 2024 infographics, is making its rounds online, said the police in an advisory on April 23.
In this scam variant, potential victims would receive a Telegram message containing infographics on Budget 2024 supposedly from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
The infographics – accompanied by a link – would then direct victims to verify their eligibility for government cash disbursements on the website.
Those who click on the link would be directed to another fraudulent website requesting victims to provide their names and Telegram accounts’ contact numbers to verify their so-called eligibility for government assistance.
Victims who fill in their information and click on the verify button may receive notifications from Telegram that a new device has attempted to log in to their accounts. But it would be too late as they would have revealed their information by then.
The fraudulent infographics would also be forwarded to other Telegram users in the victims’ contact list, and they would be added to unknown Telegram group chats related to purported investment opportunities.
The police warned that the MOF will only disseminate information through its official channels.
The public should also note that any SMS notification sent by the MOF will only inform citizens of their benefits. MOF will also not ask the public to reply to any SMS, click on any links or provide any information.
An annual report released by the police on Feb 18 noted that 7,097 phishing scam cases were reported in 2022, and 5,938 in 2023.
Victims lost a total of $16.5 million to such scams in 2022, and $14.2 million in 2023, said the police.
Phishing scams are one of the top 10 types of scams in Singapore.
The police advised the public to take precautionary measures.
They can apply the ACT acronym, which outlines these steps to take: Add security features, Check for signs of a scam, and Tell the authorities and others about scams.
For more information on scams, they can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline at 1800-722-6688.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
ALL views, content, information and/or materials expressed / presented by any third party apart from Council For Third Age, belong strictly to such third party. Any such third party views, content, information and/or materials provided herein are for convenience and/or general information purposes only. Council For Third Age shall not be responsible nor liable for any injury, loss or damage whatsoever arising directly or indirectly howsoever in connection with or as a result of any person accessing or acting on any such views, content, information and/or materials. Such third party views, content, information and/or materials do not imply and shall not be construed as a representation, warranty, endorsement and/or verification by Council For Third Age in respect of such views, content, information and/or materials.
