SINGAPORE – Scams are on the rise. Nearly 470 OCBC Bank customers lost at least $8.5 million to a spate of SMS phishing scams last month, and other banks such as DBS and UOB recently warned of similar scams impersonating bank employees.
Here are some of the most common types of scams going around.
1. SMS phishing scams
In the recent scams involving OCBC Bank, fraudsters sent SMS messages claiming to be from the bank to trick its customers.
Some scammers have made use of the same sender identification labels used by the legitimate banks when sending fake SMS messages.
For example, some of the SMS messages sent to OCBC customers seemed to have been sent by “OCBC” and appeared in the same message thread as previous genuine messages.
The messages often claim there is a problem with the recipient’s bank account that needs to be resolved urgently, and include a link to a fake website that resembles the real one.
Victims who enter their log-in information and one-time passwords (OTP) on the fake website can quickly have their accounts breached and their savings stolen.
2. Impersonation scams
Another type of phishing scam involves crooks posing as authority figures such as the police, job recruiters or government officials.
Using SMS messages, e-mails or phone calls, they try to convince potential victims to part with money or give up sensitive information such as banking log-in details or personal data such as NRIC numbers.
A variant involves fake bank hotline numbers being listed on Google search results. Victims who call these numbers will be connected to scammers pretending to be bank staff.
Common tactics involve claiming the recipient has got into legal trouble, or offering simple yet well-paid part-time jobs and investment schemes with high interest rates. Victims who respond are asked to pay fees or provide personal information.
The police, the Supreme Court and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board recently warned the public of such scams.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, many scammers also pretended to be calling from the Health Ministry and claimed they were requesting information for contact tracing purposes.
They often mask the caller ID number to appear as a local number starting with the Singapore country code “+65”, even though they may be calling from overseas.
Scammers may also pose as one’s contacts. E-mail addresses, for example, can be spoofed to appear as if the message was sent by a colleague or friend requesting money for urgent personal needs.
