$9.6m lost to Tencent, WeChat, UnionPay impersonation scams
In a span of less than three months, at least $9.6 million has been lost to scammers who impersonated staff of China-based companies such as Tencent, WeChat and UnionPay.
At least 443 of such cases have been reported since Aug 28, said the police on Nov 11.
Victims had received phone calls from scammers saying they are from such companies and that a subscription the victims previously had signed up for is about to expire.
The scammers then told the victims to cancel their subscriptions to prevent further fees from being deducted from their bank accounts linked to the platforms.
To verify their identity, the victims were told to provide their personal information and transfer money into various bank accounts, the scammer would say.
In some cases, the victims were duped into divulging their banking ID, password and one-time pin as the fraudsters guided them to increase the transaction limit for bank transfers via the screen-sharing function.
The scammers tried to increase their credibility or pile on pressure by displaying a fake employment pass or send an e-mail, impersonating staff from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, informing victims that their financial accounts do not match records.
Most victims realised they had been scammed only after they did not receive the promised refunds, said the police.
The public is reminded that MAS does not maintain records of their financial or banking accounts.
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