New scam involving fake e-wallet websites targeting game account sellers

Screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between a victim and the fake e-wallet website's customer service. (Images: SPF)
SINGAPORE: Those who have put their gaming accounts up for sale on social media platforms should beware of a new type of scam involving fake e-wallet websites.
These scammers would pose as buyers who are interested in purchasing the victims' gaming account.
They would then ask the victims to access certain links to create e-wallets to receive payment, the police said on Tuesday (Sep 28).
These were links to fake websites with domain names like baowushouyou.com, bianjieshouyou.com, 85shouyou.com and xinyushouyou.com.
When applying for their e-wallet accounts, victims would come across a "terms and conditions" page saying that they would incur a fee if there were any errors in their application form.
After setting up the e-wallet, sellers would receive WhatsApp calls or messages, typically from a number starting with the calling code +6011, said police.
Those on the other line, typically communicating in Mandarin, would claim to be customer service officers from the e-wallet companies.
They would tell the victims that their e-wallet accounts had been frozen due to errors in their account application.
"Victims were then instructed to make a fund transfer to bank accounts provided in order to unfreeze their e-wallet accounts to withdraw the funds," said the police.
"Victims were misled to believe that they had indeed made a mistake in their account application and thus complied with the instructions to make payment to individual bank accounts to unfreeze their accounts."
In some cases, victims were even told to transfer more money as the amount transferred was incorrect.
They only realised they had been cheated when they were unable to withdraw the funds from the e-wallets, with the prospective buyers becoming uncontactable.
Police reminded members of the public to be wary of dubious websites claiming to provide e-wallet services, and requests to transfer funds to the bank accounts of people they had not met before.