Police warn of new phishing scam involving malware installed on victims' phones
Images of a fraudulent home cleaning company advertising its services and the fraudulent website where victims would be re-directed to download malware. (Image: Singapore Police Force)
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Tuesday (Jun 14) warned of a new phishing scam where victims who received advertisements for cleaning services were led into downloading a mobile phone application believed to contain malware.
At least two victims have fallen prey to the scam this month, with losses amounting to at least S$2,000.
According to the police, the victims would receive advertisements for cleaning services via social messaging platforms.
After indicating their intention to engage the cleaning services, they would be given a link to download an application in order to make payment. The app is believed to contain malware, said the police.
"After installing the application on their phones, the victims would be directed to make payments via legitimate banking sites using their online banking credentials," said SPF in a media release.
"Unknown to the victims, the application would be able to access the banking credentials and SMSes sent to the victims’ phone."
Victims would only realise they had been scammed after discovering unauthorised transactions made from their bank accounts.
The police advised members of the public to take the following precautions:
- Download files directly from official and verified sources instead to ensure that the downloaded files are free from malware or viruses;
- Ensure that your mobile phones, computers and other devices with access to the Internet are installed with updated anti-virus software and malware removal tools to detect and remove malware;
- Ensure that your devices’ operating systems and applications are updated regularly to be protected by the latest security patches and vulnerabilities.
