About $750,000 lost by at least 46 victims to job scams since March
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Victims often initially receive their increased earnings and would be convinced to top up their accounts to receive more.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE - Since March, at least 46 people have lost about $750,000 after falling victim to a job scam in which conmen impersonated employees of Shopee.
The ruse involves victims getting unsolicited WhatsApp or Telegram messages from an individual pretending to be a Shopee employee, asking them to like items displayed on Shopee or to participate in a Shopee survey to earn a small fee, said the police.
More recently, scammers were observed to be adopting more sophisticated approaches to deceive victims.
They include using easily obtainable information to craft personalised messages, and creating fake employee identification to appear more convincing.
“Victims who completed the survey would then be offered a higher paying role of a ‘Shopee Assistant’ by scammer impersonating as a Shopee customer service personnel or a Shopee mentor,” added the police.
These tasks begin with registering an account with a fake Shopee website, where victims would be instructed to choose a pre-paid “task package” and pay monies to bank accounts provided by scammers before they are able to start “work”.
Victims often receive their increased earnings in the initial phase and would be convinced to top up their accounts to receive more earnings.
“They would then later realise that they had been scammed when they could not withdraw their earnings or when the scammers could no longer be contacted,” the police said.
The police advise the public to download the ScamShield app and set security features, including enabling two-factor authentication for their bank, social media and Singpass accounts.
Limits on Internet banking transactions, such as those via PayNow, should also be set.
The police added: “Shopee will only contact you via official channels, such as their app, verified social media and WhatsApp accounts, or e-mail addresses that end with shopee.com.
“Never transact outside the Shopee app. Shopee does not require anyone to pre-pay any monies in order to secure a job, and does not offer payment in exchange for likes on products on their platform.
“If you have any concerns or clarifications, contact Shopee Customer Service at +65 6206 6610 or chat with their live agents in-app.”
Members of the public should check for signs of a scam through official sources, such as www.scamalert.sg or the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688.
Those with information related to such crimes can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness
Correction note: In a previous version of the article, we said conmen impersonated employees of Shopee or other firms. Police have clarified that only Shopee was affected in these incidents.
