The Police have observed a re-emergence of the Police Impersonation scam, involving fake SPF websites.
Victims typically receive calls from scammers claiming that they are the holders of bank accounts with large amounts of money and are suspected of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering. The victims are then given a link to a website that resembles the SPF website. In some cases, the website may contain a fake warrant notice with the victim’s name on it. Subsequently, the victims are asked to provide confidential information such as credit card details and internet banking credentials on the fake SPF website, purportedly for investigation purposes.
Such websites are actually phishing sites in disguise, designed to extract useful personal information and banking details from unsuspecting victims, resulting in extensive monetary losses. The screenshots below show the fake “E-Services” pages where such illicit phishing activities were perpetrated.
The Police would like to clarify that the official SPF website is www.police.gov.sg. Members of the public are advised to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties:
a. Ignore the calls. Scammers may use Caller ID spoofing technology to mask the actual phone number and display a different number. These numbers may also be prefixed with +65 to make it look like a local number but the call may not actually be made from Singapore. If you receive a suspicious call from a local number, hang up, wait a while before calling the number back to check the validity of the request.
b. Ignore instructions to remit or transfer money. No government agency will inform you to make a payment through a telephone call, especially to a third party's bank account.
c. Refrain from giving out personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals.
Anyone with more information on such scams can call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or submit the information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. Please dial ‘999’ only if you require urgent Police assistance.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the National Crime Prevention Council’s anti-scam helpline at 1800-722 6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
02 May 2018 @ 9:19 PM