Between January and September 2019, the Police have received at least 192 reports of scams involving fake Lazada and Shopee lucky draws. The victims were contacted by the scammers on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The total amount cheated was at least S$194,000.
In these cases, scammers would impersonate as the victims’ friends or followers on Facebook and Instagram. They would then ask the victims for their contact numbers and images of their credit or debit cards on the pretext of helping them to sign up for lucky draws allegedly conducted by Lazada and Shopee to win money. Victims were also told to share the One-Time Password (OTP) that they received. They eventually realised that they were cheated after discovering unauthorised transactions made on their accounts. The Police have verified that there are no such lucky draws conducted by Lazada and Shopee.
Members of the public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
- Don’t be impulsive - Beware of unusual requests from strangers or even your social media contacts;
- Don’t believe - Be wary of claims that you have won a prize, especially if you have not participated in any campaign or lucky draw. Always verify the authenticity of the request by contacting your friend, but do not do so through the social media platform as the account might have been taken over by scammers;
- Don’t give - Do not transfer money or give out your personal information, bank account or credit/debit card details, and One-Time Password (OTP) to anyone, including family and friends.
If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, 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’.
You may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg for scam-related advice. 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 of scam.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
08 November 2019 @ 2:30 PM