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SINGAPORE – Scam cases in Singapore are at an all-time high this year, with 10,402 reported in August, nearly double the 5,229 for the same period last year. These include e-commerce scams, which involve fraudulent transactions, as well as social media spoofing, where scammers pose as friends or followers of victims, and loan scams where scammers pretend to be lenders with licence.
On Friday (November 20), Singtel said that the number of fraudulent calls received by its customers this year has also doubled, to more than 5,000 compared to last year.
While scammers can often appear convincing, there are a few key signs that can help you determine whether or not a call, message, or email is genuine.
1. Can I know if a call is false or not before answering?
A: Yes. Be alert when the call is coming from an unknown number or has the prefix plus (+), as the call is likely coming from abroad. Be especially careful with calls that come with a +65 prefix, which looks like the Singapore country code, but is actually overseas calls. National calls will not show the prefix +.
2. Can I tell if a call is fake or not based on what the caller says?
A: Yes. Scammers will often fake attractive offers, such as low-interest loans and gifts, to lure you in. They do this not only over the phone, but also through text messages or on e-commerce platforms. The general rule of thumb is that if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
But regardless of what they’re offering, to get your money, scammers will need to ask for your personal or financial details, like bank account numbers and passwords at some point, or request payment for services provided over the phone. Genuine callers from a government agency or service provider will not ask for these details or payment.
3. What about calls that say I have a problem that needs to be fixed?
A: This is an increasingly common tactic that scammers are employing to play on the anxieties of unsuspecting users. For example, Singtel said the most common type of fraudulent call its customers encountered was from scammers pretending to be tech support. These scammers claimed that Singtel’s services were about to end or that customers’ Internet connections needed to be repaired.
Beware of callers asking you to download a certain software or app so they can “help” you fix the bogus problem. Instead, you could hand them the keys to your device’s remote.
Again, they can also ask you for a payment, a request that you should ignore if you are still on the call.
If you suspect they are the target of a scam call, immediately hang up and, if unsure about whether the problem is real, contact the relevant organization through official channels to verify.
4. Can I tell if an email is fake or not, even if it appears to come from a legitimate source?
A: Yes. Please check the sender’s email address carefully. If there are words that are misspelled or misspelled, or if the address ends with an unknown suffix, you may have a fake on your hands. Official-looking emails that don’t address you by name are also likely to be fake.
Fraudulent emails also often include instructions for clicking links or downloading attachments for more information. These links direct victims to a seemingly legitimate page where they are asked to enter their personal and financial details. Trash such emails or notify the organizations being spoofed about these scams.
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