Hackers impersonate electronics retail giants
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 10, 2019 1:32 AMByHariz Baharudin
In less than a week, hackers have impersonated electronics retail giants Challenger and Harvey Norman, in a bid to stage phishing attacks by directing customers to fake sites.
Yesterday, both firms issued advisories about such scams, reiterating the warnings they had given on Sept 3.
In Challenger's case, it involves an SMS sent to its customers that falsely claims they had won a mobile phone in a contest. They are then led to a website where they are asked to give their credit card details to pay for a processing fee.
Challenger told The Straits Times yesterday it communicates with customers only through its official Facebook page, app and shopping sites. It does not do it through SMS.
"Challenger would like to remind members of the public to only trust promotions and information shared on our official communication channels, which include posts made on official Challenger Facebook page, notifications and messages via our ValueClub app and ValueClub emails, or on our Hachi.tech shopping site," said its spokesman.
She did not explain how the hackers obtained the contact details of the customers, but acknowledged there have been scams and fake sites using the firm's name.
The spokesman urged customers to contact the company at voice@challenger.sg to verify the authenticity of any messages they receive from Challenger.
Separately, Harvey Norman posted an alert on its website yesterday, warning that "an unknown entity has been impersonating the firm through Facebook".
The fake Facebook page, which has been removed, was named "Harvey Norman-Singapore" and resembles the legitimate "Harvey Norman Singapore" page. The company said on its website: "Please take note that this Facebook page is not endorsed by Harvey Norman Singapore."
The website also showed screenshots of the fraudulent account.
Harvey Norman advises people not to click on the link or open any attachments on the Facebook page.
The company also said on its website: "Harvey Norman will not request for your personal information or credit card details via unsolicited messages."
This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.
