Award Banner
Award Banner
Singapore

At least $3m lost to impersonation scams involving WhatsApp screen sharing since June

At least $3m lost to impersonation scams involving WhatsApp screen sharing since June

At least $3m lost to impersonation scams involving WhatsApp screen sharing since June
At least 46 police reports have been lodged due to impersonation scams since June.
PHOTO: Pexels

At least $3 million has been lost to impersonation scams involving the WhatsApp screen-sharing function since June. 

In a statement released on Thursday (June 26), the police confirmed that at least 46 police reports have been lodged. 

According to the police, in this variant of the scam, victims receive unsolicited calls from local mobile numbers, allegedly from companies such as NTUC Income, NTUC Union, or UnionPay.

Scammers would then claim that there were issues with insurance plans that the victims had supposedly purchased.

When victims denied purchasing these policies, they would then be directed to a second scammer impersonating an officer from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

This second scammer would inform the victims that their bank accounts had been implicated in money-laundering activities and instruct them to transfer their money to a "safety account" for safekeeping.

Victims were then guided through internet banking transfers via WhatsApp's screen-sharing function, inadvertently exposing their bank account and internet banking details. 

These victims only realised they had been scammed when the scammers became unreachable or requested further transfers.

In its statement, the police reminded members of the public never to share their device screens with unknown persons or individuals whose identities have not been verified. 

Doing so could result in one's personal banking details being disclosed, which could lead to unauthorised transactions and financial loss.

As a precautionary measure, the police also advised members of the public to use the ScamShield app to block suspicious calls and filter SMS messages, and to alert banks of any unusual activity.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg. 

Read Also
Over $8m lost: Police investigating more than 240 people in Singapore for involvement in scams
singapore
Over $8m lost: Police investigating more than 240 people in Singapore for involvement in scams

xingying.koh@asiaone.com

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.