SINGAPORE – A WhatsApp business account purportedly offering jobs at Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) camps is fake, and likely to be part of a scam.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a Facebook post on Friday that it has filed a police report and warned the public to be wary.

It said it was alerted to the account offering employment at SAF camps and that the account is unauthorised. The fake account’s profile picture bears the symbol of a lion’s head and has the profile name “SAF Camp”, with its status set to “~Mindef”.

Mindef’s post said: “We urge the public to exercise caution to avoid becoming victims to scams.”

It added that anyone who receives a suspicious message claiming to be from Mindef or the SAF should contact the NS Call Centre on 1800-367-6767 or e-mail contact@NS.sg to verify its authenticity.

More than $58 million was lost to job scams in the first half of 2022 with more than 3,500 cases reported, making them the top scam type for the first half of that year.

The largest sum cheated in a single case then was $2.4 million.

Victims suffered $346.5 million in losses to all scams in the first half of 2022, more than half of the $633.3 million lost in the whole of 2021.

Those with information related to scams are advised to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness

For more information on scams, people can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.