There’s been a series of phone scams going around of late.
On Monday (3 Jun), one netizen allegedly received a hoax Mob briefing message asking for his full NRIC.
The SMS was shared 2 days later on Wednesday (5 Jun) on the SG Kay Poh Facebook group and has garnered 1,500 shares at the time of writing.
Here’s what the fake message allegedly looks like:
The sender of the message claims to be one Corporal (CPL) Tan from the 787th Singapore Infantry Regiment.
The SMS apparently aimed to inform someone named “Mr Jonathan Hong Han Wei” about an alleged mobilisation (Mob) briefing happening on 28 Jun at Pasir Lebar camp.
Attendance is also compulsory, according to the text.
At the end of the message, the sender provides an incomplete NRIC number – “S88XXXXXX” – and requests for the receiver to reply with the full NRIC for confirmation and acknowledgement.
According to the post by SG Kay Poh, the unit’s S8 put out a notice, acknowledging the text and claiming that there’s “no such practice”.
He urged his men who received similar messages to simply “ignore it”.
Here’s his full response:
Hi all, there is a reported scam that there was an SMS sent out to individuals and asking them to acknowledge with their NRIC number.
Currently, there is no such practice. Please inform your guys should they receive SMS to verify for any call-up.
Folks, if you receive this kind of message just ignore it.
The screenshot of the alleged scam was also shared on the Singapore subreddit.
Some Redditors pointed out that official SAF reminders are sent using the number “72255”, and doesn’t require servicemen to divulge their NRIC numbers.
This is how a legit message from the official number should look like.
We’ve reached out to the Singapore Police Force, as well as the relevant parties in the Army for more information on this alleged scam.
It’s alarming to note the lengths that scammers would go to just to phish for sensitive information from others for personal gain.
Any message asking you to reveal any personal details, no matter how legit it seems, should be handled with caution. You’ll never know what could happen if information falls into the wrong hands.
Meanwhile, spread the word, so others will not fall prey to the latest phone scam in town.
Featured image from NS Portal and Unsplash.
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