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The Police would like to alert members of the public to remain vigilant against scammers who deceive victims into authorising them access to their WhatsApp accounts. 

In such cases, victims would receive WhatsApp messages from known contacts asking them to vote for a “friend’s” child at a dance competition. The messages would contain a clickable link directing the victims to a fake voting website. Victims would then be asked to “verify” their votes by providing their mobile number for a One-Time Password (OTP) or by scanning a QR code. Unbeknownst to the victims, by entering the OTP or scanning the QR code on their WhatsApp accounts, they were in fact authorising the scammers’ devices with access to their WhatsApp accounts. 

Scammers would then drop a message to the victims’ contacts to enact the same account compromise ruse or request money. Victims would only discover their WhatsApp accounts were compromised after their contacts informed them of the unusual requests.

While no losses have been reported so far, the Police would like to remind members of the public to never scan QR codes on suspicious websites or provide sensitive information such as OTPs to anyone. To secure their WhatsApp accounts, members of the public should remove unknown devices linked to their WhatsApp accounts by going to ‘Settings’ > ‘Linked Devices’. Members of the public should also enable the ‘Two-Step Verification’ feature on their WhatsApp accounts by going to ‘Settings’ > ‘Account’ > ‘Two-step verification’ > ‘Enable’.

Members of the public are strongly advised to adopt the following precautionary measures: 

1. ADD - ScamShield app to block out scam calls and filter out scam SMSes. Set up security features on WhatsApp. For information on security features on WhatsApp, visit https://www.whatsapp.com/security.
   
   
2. CHECK - scam signs with official sources such as the ScamShield app. Beware of unusual requests received over WhatsApp. Call and check with the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799. 
   
   
3. TELL - authorities, family, and friends if or when you encounter scams. If you suspect that you have fallen victim to a scam, call your bank immediately to report and block any fraudulent transactions as well as make a police report. 

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg. Fighting scams is a community effort. Together, we can ACT Against Scams to safeguard our community!

Screenshots of Conversation between Scammers and Victims

Screenshots of Fake Voting Website