$32k gone and $12k in debt: Woman falls for malware scam while buying fish online

Lured in by an advertisement for grouper fish fillets on Facebook, this woman had the misfortune of falling for a scam, hook, line and sinker.

A woman surnamed Qiu, 58, was contacted by a 'salesperson' through WhatsApp on Aug 25 after clicking on the advertisement, Shin Min Daily News reported on Friday (Sept 22).

Qiu was instructed to download an application called "Grab&Go" in order to place her order for the fish.

Although she had her suspicions at first, Qiu decided to go ahead with the 'purchase' when she realised the app didn't ask for her bank information.

Instead, all it required was her name, address and mobile phone number.

That night, however, her phone was suddenly inoperable. She assumed it was out of battery, and tried charging it.

But when she did a routine check on her bank account two days later, Qiu discovered that she only had a few dollars left across three bank accounts.

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Additionally, she found herself some $12,200 in debt on two credit cards.

Qiu immediately reported this incident to the police and approached the bank for information - as it turned out, $32,287 had been withdrawn from her three accounts on Aug 25, she said.

One of the accounts is a joint account shared with her 16-year-old daughter, Qiu told Shin Min. That account now only has $3.06 left of the original $6,000.

"I had put my daughter's ang bao money, scholarship money and so on in this account, which can then be used to repay my daughter's insurance loan. 

"There are only four years left on the loan, so how can I bear to terminate it?"

Qiu also reportedly sought help from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

However, she was told they had no way of helping her retrieve her money.

New variant of malware scams

In a press release by the police on Thursday, they announced their observation of a "new variant of malware scams". 

Victims in this form of malware scam are contacted by 'salespeople' via messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and told to download an application.

Internet banking credentials can then be stolen via a keylogger in these applications, allowing scammers to access victims' bank accounts and perform unauthorised transactions.

"In the first half of 2023, more than 750 cases of victims have downloaded the malware onto their phones, with losses amounting to at least $10 million," the release read.

The police would like to remind members of the public of the danger of downloading apps from third-party or dubious sites, the report stated.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com