Police had received several reports of victims receiving calls from unknown persons claiming to be from the technical support sections of major software companies.
2 The callers would inform the victims that their computers required security or software updates and victims would be asked to download and install one or more software from the Internet. The victims would also be asked to provide the software user account identification codes and passwords to the caller and in some instances, victims were instructed to enter some commands into their computers.
3 Some victims observed that their computers were remotely controlled or files were deleted after following the instructions of the callers. The callers would then convince the victims to buy additional software by making online payments or by providing their credit card details.
4 Members of public are advised to adopt the following crime prevention measures:
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Ignore such calls. Do not follow the instructions of the callers to install any software for your computer or enter any commands;
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Do not make any payment or divulge your credit card and/or bank account details to the callers;
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If you had followed any of the caller’s instructions, immediately change your computer's log in password and all other passwords associated with your online accounts (e.g. social media accounts and email accounts), especially your online banking and credit card passwords. Where possible, try changing the passwords from another computer other than the affected one; and
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Scan your computer with a commercial anti-virus / anti-malware software to find out if malware has been installed on your computer.
5 If you have any information related to this crime, do not hesitate to call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or dial ‘999’ for urgent Police assistance.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
06 January 2015 @ 5:00 PM