The Police would like to alert the public on a resurgence of the lucky draw scam. Since January 2019, at least 13 cases have been reported, with at least $30,000 cheated.
The scammers would typically contact the victims through the messaging and calling application ‘Viber’, and impersonate as staff from Singtel or Starhub. The victims were then told that they had won some money in a lucky draw, and were asked to provide their personal information, credit/debit card details or bank account details before they could receive their winnings. Victims subsequently discovered unauthorised transactions made from their bank accounts or credit/debit card. In some instances, the victims were asked to purchase iTunes cards and send over the redemption code to the scammers.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to be wary if you receive such messages or calls, especially if you have not participated in any lucky draw. Do not give out your personal information, credit/debit card details and bank account details to unknown individuals. Ignore any instructions provided by the caller/message sender to make payments by remitting money or purchasing iTunes gift cards. Winning a lucky draw should not require any payments to be made to claim the prize.
If you wish to provide any information related to such crimes, please call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. For urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
To seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Join the ‘let’s fight scams’ 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
02 May 2019 @ 9:40 PM