Beware of fraudulent pop-up alerts that appear to be from the police while browsing websites
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The alerts would contain the Singapore Police Force logo and the victim’s purported outstanding fines for breaking the law.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE
SINGAPORE – The public should stay vigilant against phishing scams involving fraudulent pop-up alerts purporting to be from the police.
In such scams, victims would receive fraudulent pop-up alerts that appear to be from the police while browsing websites on their computers or laptops, said the police in a statement on Feb 24.
The websites would appear to be frozen and unresponsive, they said, adding that the alerts would contain the Singapore Police Force (SPF) logo and the victim’s purported outstanding fines for breaking the law.
Victims would then be prompted to provide their bank card details to pay the “fines”.
They would realise they had been scammed only after learning that unauthorised transactions had been made with their cards.
An example of a scam variant from 2020 that uses fraudulent pop-up alerts purporting to be from the police.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
As part of the con, scammers typically use tactics such as activating the victim’s web browser’s full-screen mode to block access to the browser’s controls and taskbar, or hiding the mouse cursor to make the webpage appear unresponsive.
Those who encounter such a situation should press Ctrl+Alt+Delete on their keyboard to trigger the Task Manager tool and force quit all applications.
“The SPF does not have access to ‘lock’ or ‘freeze’ personal computers or laptops,” said the authorities.
The public is reminded to ignore any pop-up alerts purportedly from the police.
Those in doubt can call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline on 1799 to verify suspicious correspondence.
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 midyear scam statistics
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.
