Since October 2016, the Police have received at least 12 reports where the victims were tricked into providing their personal and bank account details at phishing websites, after they responded to an online pop-up advertisement stating “If you live in Singapore, you can get the iPhone 7 for just SGD 1.00/-”. Victims later realised that unauthorised transactions in various foreign currencies were made to their credit cards.
In these cases, victims had clicked on the pop-up advertisement, and were led to another website that showed a newspaper report on the offer and “testimonials” of people who said they received the phone. Victims who clicked to register for the offer were led to a phishing website and asked to enter their personal information such as name, address, handphone number, and their bank account details, such as credit card number, Card Verification Value (CVV) and One-Time Password (OTP). The victims later received SMS notifications of foreign transactions made on their credit cards.
Members of the public are advised to adopt the following preventive measures
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Beware of online offers that are too good to be true;
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Exercise care when you are asked to disclose your personal information and bank account details over the internet;
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Look for signs that you are using a legitimate or secure website. Legitimate websites are generally encrypted to protect your details and secure websites use 'https:' rather than 'http:' at the start of the internet address, or display a closed padlock or unbroken key icon at the bottom right corner of your browser window;
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Install anti-virus, anti-spyware/malware and firewall on your smartphone/computer and keep them updated; and
Report any fraudulent charges detected in your credit card bills to your bank immediately.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 November 2016 @ 12:30 PM