13 victims lose S$38,000 to scammers impersonating recruiters from travel company Anywhr

SINGAPORE: A new variant of job scam has seen 13 victims lose at least S$38,000 since January, said the police on Monday (Mar 7).

In these scams, victims would be invited via messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram to participate in jobs that would allow them to earn commissions by reviewing travel attractions and packages. 

Scammers impersonating job recruiters would send the victims unsolicited messages, claiming to be recruiting for jobs that offer high commission for reviewing of travel attractions and packages. 

To reinforce the ruse, scammers would impersonate Anywhr, a legitimate travel company.

Those who expressed interest in the jobs would be instructed to sign up for accounts on the spoofed websites provided by the scammers, and required to top up their accounts with money in order to review the attractions and earn commissions. 

The scammers would provide victims with bank accounts belonging to unknown individuals for payment to be made. 

"Victims would initially be convinced that their work was legitimate as they were able to withdraw the commissions and would thus continue to top up their accounts as directed by the scammers," said the police.

"Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they were unable to withdraw money from their accounts."

Members of the public are advised to adopt the following precautionary measures:

1. Do not accept dubious job offers that offer lucrative returns for minimal effort. If it is too good to be true, it probably is
2. Always verify the authenticity of the job offer with the company offering the job
3. Never send money to anyone whom you do not know or have not met in person.

Those with information related to such crimes or are in doubt can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.