Bill received by Facebook user not a scam: Singtel

Read about a Singtel bill scam on Facebook lately?

It's not a scam, the telco said in a statement on Wednesday (May 23), a day after a Facebook user's post went viral online.

In his original post which has since been edited, Clarence Tan alerted others to a potential billing scam after he received a Singtel bill although he was not a subscriber.

"I received a phishing mail that looks exactly like Singtel's letter asking me to pay $8.35," he wrote.

Tan shared a photo of a Singtel bill addressed to him with a total due of "$8.35-".

Surprised by the unexpected mail, he called Singtel to ask about the bill.

When he spoke with a customer service officer, Tan was told that the telco had been "receiving countless calls about the issue and that the phishing mail had been going on for quite some time."

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/clarence.isnotinsaneandneverwas/posts/10214550676776135[/embed]

Noticing discrepancies in the appearance of the bills and envelopes, Tan reminded others who have received similar mail to verify its authenticity with the telco.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Tan's Facebook post had garnered over 360 likes and was shared nearly 4,000 times.

Another photo posted by Facebook user Loh Yu Qiu showed two Singtel envelopes with the caption "Fake envelope on the left versus the real one from Singtel on the right."

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/singtel/posts/10156136916451677[/embed]

In response to Tan's post, the telco clarified that the mail that Tan had received was issued by Singtel and were accurate.

"We are currently in the process of moving all customer accounts to a new billing system and these bills are determined to be the final bills of terminated accounts."

Singtel also apologised for the misinformation relayed by its customer service officer.

To prevent his post from misleading others, Tan has since updated it with a screenshot of Singtel's statement.

AsiaOne has contacted Singtel for more information.

minlee@sph.com.sg