The Police have detected a new phishing scam variant where malware was installed on victims’ phones to steal their banking credentials. Since June 2022, at least two victims have fallen prey, with total losses amounting to at least $2,000.
Members of the public would receive advertisements for cleaning services via social messaging platforms. A link would be sent to the victims after they indicated their intention to engage the cleaning services. The scammers would tell the victims to make payment by downloading an application, believed to contain malware, using the link provided on the web page. After installing the application on their phones, the victims would be directed to make payments via legitimate banking sites using their online banking credentials. Unknown to the victims, the application would be able to access the banking credentials and SMSes sent to the victims’ phone. The victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they discovered unauthorised transactions made from their bank accounts.
Members of the public are advised to follow these crime prevention measures:
- Download files directly from official and verified sources instead to ensure that the downloaded files are free from malware or viruses;
- Ensure that your mobile phones, computers and other Information Communications Technology (ICT) devices are installed with updated anti-virus software and malware removal tools to detect and remove malware; and
- Ensure that your ICT devices’ operating systems and applications are updated regularly to be protected by the latest security patches and vulnerabilities.
If you have any information relating to such crimes, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.
Image of fraudulent home cleaning company advertising its services
Image of the fraudulent website where victims would be re-directed to download malware
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
14 June 2022 @ 6:02 PM