Phone scams : the lost of 6 million singaporean dollards

Nowadays, phone scams are becoming more and more prevalent and vary by contry. In Singapore, victims have lost approximately 6 million dollars in 2019 to call scammers who pretended to be a company staff member. According to Singaporean police, from January to October 2019, 156 reports concerned such scams. The guilty claimed that the victim’s computers should be repaired.

More precisely, in October 2019, at least 50 people where victimes of a variant of this scam. Scammers would usurp the identity of the staff from telecommunication service providers like Singtel and Starhub. They call the victims and report problems about the modem and/or Internet connexion.

Scammers has asked victims to download and install « remote access » software such like Team Viewer or AnyDesk. The scammers asked the victims that they must access their computer to resolve the problems. But what will this software be used for ? Indeed, when victims install software, scammers can remotely access their computers and see when the victims log into their online bank accounts. After this, scammers can transfer funds from the victims’bank accounts without their consent.

But this operating mode is not the only one. Singaporean police also reports that sometimes, scammers would say they are from the « Cyber Police of Singapore » and would intimidate the victims of a criminal offense. In this situation, scammers has asked the victims that they must access their computer to help the investigation.

Singaporean police advises the victims of scams to quickly shut down their computers, report the situation to their bank, and finally change their banking informations.

To know more, the Singapore Police Force released an advisory about this case : https://www.police.gov.sg/Media-Room/News/20191115_OTHERS_TECHNICAL_SUPPORT_SCAMS