At least $13.5m lost to scammers posing as company execs on WhatsApp in Singapore since 2025

SINGAPORE - There have been at least 10 reported cases here of scammers posing as senior executives of companies on WhatsApp, resulting in losses of at least $13.5 million, since January 2025.

The police reminded the public in an advisory on Feb 26 to remain vigilant against such schemes.

In this ruse, scammers create WhatsApp accounts with the name and publicly available photos of the victims’ chief executives or supervisors. They would then contact the victims through the messaging app while posing as their bosses, said the police.

Some of the victims were instructed to participate in video calls via the Zoom video-conferencing platform, where scammers would digitally alter their appearance to impersonate senior executives, investors, or officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The victims would be instructed to work on what the scammers called “confidential projects” and made to sign “non-disclosure agreements” to prevent them from discussing the “projects” with their colleagues.

They would be asked to provide confidential company information such as bank account balances, and transfer company funds for the “projects”.

They would realise that they had been scammed only after checking with their actual chief executive officers or supervisors on the “projects”.

Businesses are advised by the police to brief their staff, especially new employees and interns, on this scam variant.

They should also be wary of any unusual requests to transfer company funds, especially transfers of large amounts.

“Always verify with relevant colleagues through a different medium such as phone calls or enterprise communication channels before proceeding with any out-of-the-ordinary instructions,” said the police.

Conduct work-related communications through official channels such as company e-mails and ensure that the sender’s e-mail address matches the legitimate e-mail address of the person, they added.

Those who encounter suspicious correspondences can call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline on 1799 to verify them.

Nearly half a billion dollars was lost to scams in the first half of 2025, with almost 20,000 cases reported in Singapore, based on mid-year scam statistics released by the police in 2025.

Government official impersonation scams remain an area of concern, with the number of cases almost tripling from 589 in the first half of 2024 to 1,762 in the first half of 2025.