Fraudsters pose as Ninja Van staff on WhatsApp to lure victims through paid survey
Logistics company Ninja Van on Friday has raised a warning over persons falsely representing themselves as its employees to target victims on WhatsApp.
Similar impersonation scams would see victims being lured into completing a survey, often receiving a sum of money to convince them of the scammer’s legitimacy. Victims in such scams would then be asked to complete other tasks, through which they would eventually be cheated of their money.
The company said it had been alerted again by members of the public about fraudsters who targeted people on messaging platform WhatsApp, claiming to be from Ninja Van’s customer service or marketing department.
The impersonators promised a cash reward for answering a short survey regarding online shopping frequency and satisfaction with the delivery service of the online platform.
The unsolicited messages were from foreign phone numbers with country calling codes including Ethiopia’s and Uzbekistan’s.
“We strongly advise the public not to respond to these messages or click on any accompanying links,” Ninja Van said.
It added that the company would only contact individuals via official channels such as its official social messaging system NinjaChat, verified social media and WhatsApp accounts, or e-mail addresses that end with ninjavan.co
A recent incident involved a victim who was misled into participating in such a survey on June 6.
After completing the survey, the victim was instructed to contact an individual on Telegram, another messaging platform.
There, the victim obliged when asked to provide a phone number to receive a PayNow transfer.
The victim received $15 via PayNow from an account linked to “Ayu Yuliana Binte Zahari”.
The trickster then tried to persuade the victim to join a Telegram group for additional survey opportunities, but the victim did not.
The victim alerted Ninja Van Singapore, and was accompanied by its staff to file a police report on June 14.
Ninja Van’s website also highlights “fake parcel update” scams as well as a fake e-commerce site claiming to be associated with the company selling various consumer goods and products.
Cash-on-delivery scams have also been gaining prominence, according to Ninja Van.
In such scams, victims would receive parcels that would be delivered by last-mile delivery providers like Ninja Van, which are instructed to collect payment from the recipient on behalf of the scammer.
Victims would then realise that they did not receive what they ordered, or they received something of much lower value.
Ninja Van advised members of the public to remain vigilant and to download the ScamShield anti-scam app.
Those with concerns or clarifications can contact Ninja Van Singapore Customer Service on 6602-8271 or chat with its agents on its website.
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