At least 77 victims tricked into clicking on phishing links in food ads
As the authorities strengthen measures to prevent members of the public from falling for scams, scammers are also becoming increasingly creative in their approaches.
Recently, they have begun deceiving people in Singapore into clicking on phishing links by “selling” food at prices that are very hard to resist.
Amid the durian season, these ads now include Musang King durian.
Source: Singapore Police Force
Food offered online at heavily discounted prices
According to a media release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Wednesday (2 July), scams involving food-related advertisements are often perpetuated via social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
These posts usually promote products such as durian and crackers sold at heavily discounted prices.
For example, Black Gold Musang King durian might be “sold” for a limited-time offer of S$1.99 per box, or the same durian variety at S$2.68 for 500g.
Source: Singapore Police Force
Victims redirected to phishing website via food ads
After clicking on a link in the post, the victim would be redirected to a phishing website where they would be asked to enter their card details and online banking login information.
They would also be asked for a one-time password (OTP) to complete the “transaction”.
In some cases, victims received a text message asking for their YouTrip account’s login verification code. Once entered, they would get an SMS, email or notification of a “new” login to their YouTrip account.
Victims would realise they had been scammed only when they find unauthorised transactions in their bank accounts, credit cards, or YouTrip accounts.
Some of the transactions would be made in foreign currencies.
77 scam reports since 15 June
So far, there have been 77 reports of such scams since 15 June, SPF said.
The total losses from these scams amounted to at least S$48,000.
As such, SPF urged the public to remain vigilant and adopt precautionary measures to avoid falling for scams.
For example, they can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg to learn more about scam protection.
Also read: ‘New scam’: Redditor warns of Facebook page posing as VivoCity linking to fake G-SHOCK website
‘New scam’: Redditor warns of Facebook page posing as VivoCity linking to fake G-SHOCK website
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Police Force.
