S$167,000 lost to Facebook, Instagram scams involving Chinese New Year goodies
File photo of Chinese New Year goodies. (Photo: iStock)
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SINGAPORE: At least five victims have fallen prey to scams involving the sale of food items like Chinese New Year goodies since September 2023, losing about S$167,000 (US$124,000) in total.
Many of the alleged fraudulent advertisements of food items were posted on Facebook and Instagram, police said in a news release on Wednesday (Jan 17).
Victims of such scams were often redirected to messaging platforms on Facebook, Instagram or Whatsapp after clicking on links provided in the advertisements, said police.
They were then directed to download an Android Package Kit (APK) to place orders for the food items before being instructed to key in their banking credentials to make full or partial payments.
Unknown to them, however, the APK allowed scammers to access their devices remotely and steal their banking credentials and passwords.
Subsequently, the victims discovered unauthorised transactions from their banking accounts, said police.
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
People should be wary of downloading applications from third-party or dubious sites, police said.
The police advised people to install the ScamShield App to protect themselves against scam calls and SMSes.
Users should also ensure that their devices’ applications and operating systems are updated regularly by the latest security patches.
To protect accessibility to their devices’ hardware or data, individuals can disable the “Install Unknown App” or “Unknown Sources” function in their phone settings and ignore requests from persistent pop-ups that might ask for access.
Checking the developer information on the application’s listing and looking at the number of downloads and user reviews are also important steps to ensure an application's legitimacy.
Individuals who come across “suspicious content or advertisement” on Facebook or Instagram should report it to the platforms, the police said.
Those with information about scams can call the police at 1800 255 0000 or submit it online using this link.
Already installed the suspicious app?
People who have already downloaded and installed the app, including granting it accessibility services, or suspect that their phone is infected with malware can take the following steps:
- Turn the phone to “flight mode”. Check that Wi-Fi is switched off and do not switch it on
- Run an anti-virus scan on the phone
- Check bank account, Singpass, CPF or any other relevant accounts for any unauthorised transaction(s) using other devices
- If there are unauthorised transactions, report them to the bank and relevant authorities and also lodge a police report
- As a further precaution, one may consider doing a “factory reset” of the phone and changing important passwords
